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Source: Congress.gov
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Thank you. He's going to be amazing. The committee will come to order. The chair notes the presence of a quorum. Pursuant to committee rules, members of the committee may submit written opening statements for the record. I ask that members may revise and extend the remarks on the measure to be considered at this markup and have those remarks included in the record without objection. So ordered. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare recess of the committee at any time pursuant to committee rule three. The chair announces that I may postpone further proceedings today on the question of approving any measure or matter or adopting an amendment on which a recorded vote is ordered. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. Well, good morning, everyone. I'm excited to be here to mark up the committee print under consideration today, which responds to the committee's instructions under HCON Resolution 14, the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2025. More than any other committee, we have a tremendous opportunity to promote access to America's abundant resources, stir them well, and harness their vast potential to benefit the American people and to impact the budget. Before we get into what I'm sure will be a robust discussion on the legislation before us, I want to take a few minutes to step back and first examine what brought us here today.
America is in a fiscal crisis. Our national debt currently clocks in at a staggering $36.8 trillion, and it's growing every second. In a city where money is allocated and spent without a second thought, some may lose sight of just how huge a trillion really is. If you stacked a trillion one-dollar bills, it would reach about 67,000 miles, almost three times around the Earth. The 36.8 trillion would wrap around the Earth nearly 110 times. Our founders signed the U.S. Constitution in 1787. If the government had started borrowing $1 million every single day since then, our debt would only be about $86 billion. In fact, borrowing $1 million a day, our nation would be approaching its 1,753rd birthday before we would hit the $36.8 trillion mark. I say all this to illustrate the near insurmountable uphill battle we are currently facing. The federal government has been wasting taxpayer dollars at breakneck speed and borrowing against itself, and make no mistake, our time is running out. The American people know this, and that's why they handed us a mandate last November. It's time to get our fiscal house in order. House Republicans have once in a generation opportunity to deliver on President Trump's agenda by passing a reconciliation bill that unleashes the full power of American energy and innovation, builds upon tax cuts and Jobs Act tax cuts to grow our economy and set our nation on a more responsible fiscal path into the future. Under the Biden administration, we witnessed rampant waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars. Our constituents have seen enough and are demanding long term change here in Washington. For too long, politicians in Washington have been content to spend like there's no tomorrow without a single thought to the fiscal ramifications. That's why this bill takes a hard look at the programs under our jurisdiction, cuts wasteful programs and incentivizes resource production to generate revenue.
Today, the committee will have a chance to act decisively. No one innovates or harnesses natural resources better than we do here in the United States. We're working to bring production back to America, where we do it more safely, cleanly, and efficiently than anywhere else in the world. We have the opportunity to secure our supply chains and restore high paying American jobs, all while ensuring we're wisely stewarding the natural resources with which our nation has been blessed. So today, don't let partisan politics distract you from the facts. We are delivering on the American people's mandate to restore common sense to the federal government and stop the fiscal bleeding. I look forward to the discussion of the bill before us, and I yield back.
I now recognize the ranking member for any opening statement he may have. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, if you're concerned about trillions in debt, why are you giving trillions away to billionaires? in tax cuts. Let's be clear about what's happening today. This markup is one of the most consequential proceedings this committee has ever seen and not in a good way. We're considering the most extreme anti-environment bill in American history. It's not about deficit reduction. It's about powerful groups that fund GOP campaigns and they have decided this is the moment to strike to dismantle protections for our environment, wildlife, and public health, make it impossible to challenge or even question polluting projects, mandate a massive expansion of offshore drilling, putting communities from Alaska to Florida at risk of catastrophic oil spills, auction off millions of acres of pristine public lands to industry, including wilderness areas and sacred tribal sites. And under the guise of a bill that slashes spending, give away billions in subsidies to the coal industry, corporate irrigators in California, and other special interests.
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