Democrats’ Phony Fig Leaf “Permitting Reform” Would Make Things Even Worse
‘If the Senate votes today on proceeding to a bill that has this partisan poison pill jammed into it, I will vote ‘no.’ I urge all my colleagues to vote ‘no.’ This all-Democratic government has a smooth and obvious path on government funding. The path is obvious. Drop the extraneous, partisan language and let a bipartisan C.R. move forward.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding government funding:
“Last night, our Democratic colleagues released a draft short-term government funding bill.
“Big parts of the draft are unobjectionable. Because they were negotiated across party lines.
“Both sides of the aisle want to prevent a government shutdown that no one wants. Both sides want to keep resources flowing to disaster-stricken communities.
“Both sides want to continue time-sensitive support for Ukraine.
“But unfortunately, our Democratic colleagues decided to put in extraneous partisan language. A poison pill.
“This extraneous poison pill is not related to keeping government open.
“It was not negotiated across the aisle.
“In fact, both the Democratic Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Leahy, and the Republican Vice Chairman, Senator Shelby, have stated publicly that this poison pill should not be in their bill!
“The poison pill is a phony attempt to address the important topic of permitting reform.
“Mr. President, it is much too difficult to build things in America and unleash American energy. Liberal regulations and red tape are huge problems.
“That’s why Republicans are the leaders on this issue. That’s why my colleague Senator Capito has introduced a strong, robust package that would actually move this ball forward.
“What our Democratic colleagues have produced is a phony fig leaf that would actually set back the cause of real permitting reform. This is an issue where it should be very easy to improve upon the status quo, but amazingly, our Democratic colleagues have managed to write language that would actively make things even worse.
“Senator Manchin’s bill goes out of its way to avoid actually amending the National Environmental Policy Act or any other environmental law. It layers new bureaucracy on top of existing bureaucracy. Its new requirements and deadlines are paper tigers with no enforcement.
“The few parts of this legislation that would actually change the status quo would take things from bad to worse.
“For example, yesterday, a long list of state Attorneys General wrote the Senate a panicked letter explaining that Senator Manchin’s language would, ‘eviscerate states’ ability to chart their own land-use and energy policies.’
“Among other problems, they explain how this legislation creates a backdoor to sneak through an electricity grid takeover much like the Obama Administration’s unconstitutional so-called ‘Clean Power Plan.’
“These state-level officials are also sounding the alarm about higher costs for their citizens. They write the Manchin proposal could impose, ‘potentially back-breaking costs on residents who may see no true energy benefit whatsoever.’
“Democrats’ policies already have electricity costs skyrocketing at the fastest rate in more than 40 years. The last thing that struggling families need are more Democratic policies that raise utility bills even higher still.
“This phony fig leaf is ‘permitting reform’ in name only.
“It was written to drain the political will for actual reform without creating any meaningful change that liberal special interests might dislike.
“If tepid Democratic support for this phony fig leaf is all that our colleague from West Virginia got in return for approving yet another taxing and spending spree during an inflation crisis, it’s hard to imagine a worse bargain — for a Senator, or for the country.
“If the Senate votes today on proceeding to a bill that has this partisan poison pill jammed into it, I will vote ‘no.’ I urge all my colleagues to vote ‘no.’
“This all-Democratic government has a smooth and obvious path on government funding. The path is obvious. Drop the extraneous, partisan language and let a bipartisan C.R. move forward.”
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Related Issues: Energy, Democrats' Reckless Taxing And Spending Spree, Appropriations, Senate Democrats
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