OPINION:
Rural communities are the beating heart of this Nation. Folks in urban communities often forget the food they eat, the clothes they wear, and the fuel they burn would not exist without the blood, sweat, and tears of hardworking men and women in rural America. Right now, these same men and women feel sidelined or even ignored by mainstream media, coastal elites, tech giants and most egregiously, the current administration.
The Biden administration singlehandedly decimated our nation’s domestic energy production by cancelling the Keystone XL Pipeline, placing a moratorium on all oil and gas leasing, drilling permits, and lease extensions on federal land, and cancelling lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska and turning to other countries to account for our diminished supply. Their bloated bureaucracy has allowed millions of acres of forests to go up in flames annually, unfairly punished the agriculture industry with unclear and ever-changing federal regulations, stalled vital infrastructure and energy projects for years, failed to meet our conservation and species management needs, and stifled American industries with their Green New Deal agenda.
In doing so, this administration has devastated rural America.
Supply chain issues and rising energy costs have been exacerbated by President Biden’s policies and caused input costs to reach record highs. The Biden administration is so intent on catering to the environmental lobbyists who want to “flip the switch” to green energy they forget that when the sun goes down and the wind stops blowing, Americans still need to heat their homes, run their farms, and provide for their families. This has placed a huge burden on America’s farmers and ranchers and has had a massive impact on everyone up and down the supply chain. From the local community to the end consumer who faces higher food prices and even food shortages, this administration’s disastrous policies can be felt everywhere. And we haven’t forgotten.
For the last 30 years, the Congressional Western Caucus, a group of almost 100 Members of Congress from across the United States, has advocated for our rural and western way of life in Washington, D.C. We know responsible access to domestic resources and secure mineral supply chains are essential to every aspect of our lives, from energy, communications, and healthcare, to manufacturing, infrastructure, and new technological advancements. That’s why we endorsed and passed H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act.
H.R. 1 unleashes domestic energy production, streamlines and modernizes our broken permitting process, and boosts the processing of critical minerals to let Americans mine, farm, manufacture, process, and build infrastructure so we can get shovels in the ground and move our country forward. For far too long, we’ve sat idle and let bureaucrats in Washington and radical activist lawyers hamstring American workers by suing at every opportunity, long after decisions have been made and permits have been issued.
The Western Caucus is committed to fighting for rural America, protecting our values, and defending the local communities we represent. As Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, I see the threat the Biden administration poses to rural communities across the country and am acting against it. But if rural America is to continue producing the food, resources, and power our Nation depends on, the Senate needs to pass H.R. 1 now, before it’s too late. Failure is simply not an option.
• U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse, Washington Republican, is Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus and a Member of the House Appropriations Committee. He is a lifelong resident of Central Washington and represents the state’s Fourth Congressional District. A third-generation Yakima Valley farmer, he brings real-world experience to Congress as a businessman, former state legislator, and former Director of Washington States Department of Agriculture.
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