Category: US Senate

Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)

BISMARCK – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, and Congressman John Joyce, M.D. (R-PA) led 82 bicameral colleagues on a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), urging it to withdraw portions of a proposal which would place more stringent vapor emissions requirements on small gasoline bulk plants.

The rule would lower compliance thresholds using plants’ theoretical maximum design capacities, rather than their actual throughput. If finalized, it could drive compliance costs, impact regular service, and during emergencies, choke off supplies to entire communities. As such, the group also suggested the EPA convene a Small Business Advocacy Review panel to engage energy marketers in a conversation about the proposal’s consequences.

“The EPA’s overzealous proposed rule could have disastrous consequences for North Dakotans. Small, family-owned gasoline bulk storage plants are a critical part of the fuel distribution system in rural areas,” said Senator Cramer. “If finalized, this proposal would either force increased costs on consumers or the closure of storage facilities. It’s a lose-lose for everyone involved, and the EPA should withdraw the rule.”

“Ensuring that rural gas stations have the necessary supply to meet demand is essential for our families, farmers, and emergency services providers,” said Dr. Joyce. “This issue transcends political divides, and it’s time for the EPA to withdraw provisions of the proposed NESHAP rule that apply to small bulk plant facilities and put our gasoline supply at risk.”

As well, the effort has garnered support from state stakeholder groups.

“The ND Petroleum Marketers Association applauds Senator Cramer for taking the lead on getting the EPA to withdraw this potential rule relating to gas vapor recovery at bulk plants. This financially onerous rule needs to be vetted much more thoroughly by all involved parties to ensure the best interests of the business communities and consumers are being met. This is critically important to rural states like North Dakota. If enacted in its current state, this rule would cost petroleum marketers millions of dollars to comply. The high cost of upgrading sites would likely lead to some bulk fuel dealers discontinuing the sale of gasoline, potentially creating gasoline deserts in rural parts of the state. An agriculture rich state like North Dakota can’t take that chance,” said Mike Rud, President of the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers.

“Thank you to Congressman Joyce and Senator Cramer for leading this effort. Pennsylvania has the third-largest rural population in the country with more than 3 million people living in rural areas. This proposed regulation would have unintended consequences for family-owned energy providers who rely on bulk storage to efficiently supply the gasoline needs of farmers, first responders, and other consumers in their local communities,” said Ted Harris, Executive Vice President of the Pennsylvania Petroleum Association.

Joining Senator Cramer are Senators Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), Jim Risch (R-ID), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), John Barrasso (R-WY), Mike Braun (R-IN), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Mike Lee (R-UT), John Kennedy (R-LA), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Ted Budd (R-NC), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Thom Tillis (R-ND), Roger Wicker (R-MS), John Boozman (R-AR), Joni Ernst (R-IA), John Hoeven (R-ND), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Deb Fischer (R-NE), James Lankford (R-OK), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Rounds (R-SD), John Thune (R-SD), and Katie Britt (R-AL).

Joining Congressman Joyce are Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN), Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Gary Palmer (R-AL), Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Tracey Mann (R-KS), Mike Ezell (R-MS), Tim Burchett (R-TN), Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL), Marcus J. Molinaro (R-NY), Mike Flood (R-NE), Greg Pence (R-IN), Tom Tiffany (R-WI), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Trent Kelly (R-MS), Steve Womack (R-AR), Pete Stauber (R-MN), Richard Hudson (R-NC), William Timmons (R-SC), Mike Rogers (R-AL), Randy Weber (R-TX), Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA), Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), Earl L. “Buddy Carter (R-GA), Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Andy Barr (R-KY), Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Stephanie Bice (R-OK), Tom Cole (R-OK), Russ Fulcher (R-ID), Bill Johnson (R-OH), Cliff Bentz (R-OR), David Rouzer (R-NC), John Rose (R-TN), Troy Balderson (R-OH), John P. Moolenaar (R-MI), Neal P. Dunn, M.D. (R-FL), Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR), Rick W. Allen (R-GA), Julia Letlow (R-LA), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Garret Graves (R-LA), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Nick Langworthy (R-NY), Scott DesJarlais (R-TN), Debbie Lesko (R-AZ), Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), Brad Finstad (R-MN), and Lauren Boebert (R-CO).

Click here to read the letter.

Source: United States Senator for Indiana Todd Young

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Source: United States Senator for Arkansas – John Boozman

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) released the following statement reflecting on the life of former Arkansas Congressman Marion Berry:

“Marion Berry was a dear friend and a great role model of service to the people of Arkansas. As a product of the Delta, he earnestly invested in its success and worked tirelessly for the benefit of his neighbors and friends while serving in Congress, especially on behalf of the farmers and rural communities who trusted him to be their voice. I will always value his counsel and the example he provided, and Cathy and I are praying for Carolyn and every loved one mourning this tremendous loss. We are grateful for his life and legacy.”

Source: United States Senator for West Virginia Joe Manchin

May 22, 2023

Wheeling, WV — This weekend, The Wheeling Intelligencer published an op-ed from Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The full op-ed is below. To read the piece in The Wheeling Intelligencer, please click here.

Chairman Manchin wrote:

America’s permitting process is broken, consumed by bureaucratic delays and endless litigation at every turn. Our inability to permit projects in West Virginia and across the country on a timely basis is not only harming our energy security and ability to provide for ourselves, it’s also hurting our national security and ability to reduce our reliance on foreign adversaries who do not share our values. We only have to look at Putin’s ability to cripple much of Europe by cutting off Russia’s energy exports to see what happens if we continue down this road of, or open up the door to, dependence on countries like China, Russia, Iran, and other bad actors for our energy. 

For years, I have been working in a bipartisan way to address our country’s broken permitting system. Over the past year, as West Virginia’s senior senator and the chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, I have been proud to reignite and lead the effort on bipartisan, comprehensive permitting reform, and I continue to work with the president and congressional leaders to secure the enactment of commonsense permitting reforms. Because of the crippling impacts of a broken system, I continue to urge my colleagues to come together around a bipartisan solution as quickly as possible.

Last summer, after securing a commitment to get permitting reform done, I introduced legislation that would enable the United States to build the infrastructure we need to ensure our energy and national security. Throughout the fall, I worked with a bipartisan group of senators to make adjustments that incorporated feedback from my Republican colleagues. As a result of these compromises, 40 Democrats and seven Republicans voted to include my comprehensive, and truly bipartisan, energy permitting reform legislation in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. Notably, that legislation was also supported by the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

While we need 60 votes in the U.S. Senate to enact a law, when you can get 47 bipartisan senators to agree on anything, it’s a sure sign that Congress knows there’s a problem we need to fix. That’s why I have reintroduced that legislation, the Building American Energy Security Act of 2023, to restart conversations around permitting reform. As the only comprehensive Senate permitting bill to have received bipartisan support, it is a great starting point.

For generations, West Virginians have been proud to punch above our weight to mine the coal that forged the steel that built the tanks and ships that powered our nation to greatness. West Virginia coal miners and their families have sacrificed so that our country could industrialize and grow to become the superpower of the world. An improved permitting process will ensure West Virginia is able to continue reliably powering the rest of the nation like we have proudly done for hundreds of years. 

As all four Federal Energy Regulatory Commission commissioners testified before the Senate Energy Committee, we cannot eliminate coal today or in the near future if we want to have a reliable electric grid. I also continue to work to ensure that newer energy industries like hydrogen and advanced nuclear see the tremendous benefits that investing in West Virginia will provide. 

It’s for that reason that I provided $8 billion for hydrogen hubs through my committee, ensuring that one must be in the Appalachian region, and have authored bipartisan laws to help bring advanced nuclear to re-power coal plants that have closed and provide jobs and economic opportunities to these communities. But this is all for nothing if we can’t get our permitting processes to work for us, not against us.

Unfortunately, in West Virginia, we’ve seen up close the consequences of our broken permitting system through the drawn-out permitting process for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. With only 20 miles left until the pipeline is finally finished, the project has been undergoing litigation and permitting re-dos for more than eight years, including six Environmental Impact Studies and nine court cases in the Fourth Circuit. 

This delay is preventing 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from entering the market that would help keep global supply and demand balanced, bring in $40 million annually in new tax revenue for West Virginia and bring in more than $300 million more per year in royalties for West Virginia landowners. That’s on top of the approximately 2,500 construction jobs that are on hold while the Mountain Valley Pipeline is litigated over and over again.

And MVP is just the tip of the iceberg. All across our great nation, all types of energy and mineral projects — including fossil fuels like natural gas, oil, and coal, but also wind and solar and critical minerals projects that will be needed for new energy technologies of the future — are tied up in unnecessary litigation and a disjointed, lengthy and repetitive permitting process that subjects vital projects to rounds and rounds of red tape and reviews that only solidify our reliance on foreign supply chains. 

As chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, I held a hearing last week to look at opportunities for Congress to reform the permitting process and it became clear: just as we did with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, we all need to sit down and negotiate in good faith to do what our country needs and craft a truly bipartisan permitting reform bill instead of focusing on whose name is on the bill.

To continue making the case to the administration and congressional leaders, I will hold more sector-specific energy permitting hearings in the weeks ahead to learn more about the issues these projects face and inform our work. Make no mistake, actually getting something done will require compromise and prioritization. Many ideas that are priorities for some senators are strongly opposed by others. But we cannot let the pursuit of the perfect bill mean we fail once again in getting a good, impactful bill signed into law.

Americans of all walks of life expect the lights to turn on when we flip the switch. We expect the gas station to be able to sell us fuel to get to work. And why shouldn’t we? America is the superpower of the world, the richest nation in history, and yet, our electric grid and the reliable energy supply that all Americans count on is being threatened because it takes five, 10, or even 15 years to build the infrastructure we need to produce and transport energy across our great nation. Without comprehensive permitting reform we risk jeopardizing the energy security our country needs to be the superpower of the world.

Let me be clear: the road ahead to enact meaningful permitting reforms is not easy, but if we put partisan politics aside and truly work on behalf of all West Virginians and the American people, like they deserve, then we can find a solution that strengthens our energy security and ensures America remains a global energy leader.

Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy

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Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Tom Carper (D-DE) as well as U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-03) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH-02) reintroduced the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) Part D Choice Act. This legislation would allow Medicare-only PACE participants to choose between the PACE Part D plan, as currently designed, or a standalone Medicare Part D plan, offering older Americans significant cost savings. Part D choice would allow seniors to choose the plan that works for them, without incurring unfairly high Part D premiums.

“PACE patients should have the same access to lower premiums and affordable prescription drugs as those in other Medicare programs,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This will lead to better health outcomes for seniors with chronic illness.” 

“Everyone deserves a fair choice when it comes to health care and we must ensure that access to this choice is affordable,” said Senator Carper. “The PACE Part D Choice Act would give seniors the option to choose a cost-efficient plan that will provide them with the care they need.”

“No one should have to choose between the benefits of the PACE program and being able to afford prescription coverage,” said Representative Blumenauer. “Oregonians have seen firsthand how beneficial PACE is, having been served by one of the largest programs in the country since 1990. This legislation offers a commonsense solution to help more Americans afford PACE. I look forward to working with Rep. Wenstrup and Senators Carper and Cassidy on this important issue.”

“As a physician, I know how important affordable access to needed prescriptions is for patient health outcomes. The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) allows seniors to have access to the care and services they need while they remain in their community. This legislation will allow PACE participants to access more affordable drug plans that could save them several hundred dollars a month. I’m glad to work with my colleagues to reintroduce this bipartisan legislation, and I urge Congress to pass this bill so that seniors in the PACE program can benefit from more affordable prescription options,” said Representative Brad Wenstrup. 

Currently, PACE participants must enroll in the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan offered by their PACE program instead of PACE participants having the ability to choose a more affordable, alternative stand-alone Part D plan. This bill would enable Medicare-only participants and future Medicare beneficiaries to have access to a more affordable PACE plan that could save them nearly $1,000 a month.

Source: United States Senator John Kennedy (Louisiana)

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) has received a response from the U.S. State Department saying that the department has “directly engaged Finnish officials on” the cases of Dr. Päivi Räsänen and Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola. The Finnish Christians continue to be the targets of prosecution from Finland’s government for expressing their sincere religious views in a non-violent manner.

“Religious freedom remains under threat in Finland even though the court acquitted Dr. Räsänen and Rev. Dr. Pohjola more than a year ago. I appreciate the State Department’s attention to this pressing issue and urge it to continue to advocate for religious liberty and for Finland to abandon its efforts to prosecute faith. People shouldn’t be subjected to criminal prosecution for expressing their sincere religious views in a non-violent manner, yet the Finnish government is attempting for a second time to convict these people of faith,” said Kennedy.

Kennedy voiced concerns over this prosecution with the U.S. State Department’s Ambassador-at-Large in the Office of International Religious Freedom, Rashad Hussain, and U.S. Ambassador to Finland, Douglas Hickey, and has urged the U.S. State Department to engage the Finnish government over its refusal to accept the acquittal of Räsänen and Pohjola.

According to the State Department, the Finnish government’s appeals process will likely not result in a hearing until August 2023, but the U.S. embassy will continue to engage on the issue with officials and religious communities in Finland.

“As we have communicated to our counterparts, promoting respect for and protecting freedom of religion or belief remains an important U.S. foreign policy priority. The U.S. Embassy in Helsinki has closely monitored these cases and has raised them in discussions with Finnish government counterparts, as well as with religious and civil society leaders,”the State Department told Kennedy.

Background:

Räsänen and Pohjola were unanimously absolved of criminal liability for expressing their religious beliefs on March 30, 2022, and the court ordered Finnish prosecutors to pay nearly $67,000 in legal fees. The Finnish government, however, appealed the acquittal.

Kennedy originally wrote to the State Department in March 2022 to raise concerns about Finland’s prosecution of non-violent expressions of faith. The prosecution of Räsänen and Pohjola occurs while Europe continues to witness anti-Christian hate crimes and hostility toward Christian-led organizations throughout the continent.

Kennedy’s March 2022 letter is available here, and his December 2022 letter is available here.

The State Department’s May 2023 response is available here.

Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

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Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

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Source: United States Senator for Illinois Dick Durbin

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