JUST IN: House Hearing Derailed When Mfume Blasts Higgins Over His Remarks To EPA Admin Regan

2 months ago

At a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) and Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) clashed over the questioning of EPA Administrator Michael Regan.

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Transcript

00:00Chair now recognizes Mr. Higgins from Louisiana for five minutes. Thank You

00:04Mr. Chairman. Administrator Reagan, you said you you don't want to lose the

00:09trust of the American people. Too late. It's already happened. Economic prosperity

00:16is is the cornerstone of societal advancement worldwide and the

00:26cornerstone of economic prosperity is affordable, abundant, transportable energy

00:34product. Ladies and gentlemen, and you young Americans across the country,

00:40please join me in loving your planet and and living your life in a manner that

00:48you intend to protect your planet for future generations by recognizing that

00:54economic prosperity worldwide is a number one driver of clean air and clean

01:01water and reduced pollution worldwide. So the energy product that the world

01:09consumes, including the fuel that you use to get here, the petrochemical

01:16products produced by the fossil fuel industry that Mr. Reagan is wearing upon

01:22his back, that clothes that you're wearing, the carpet upon which you're

01:26standing, the finish on the chair where you're sitting, the petrochemical

01:31products that make up 100% of the phone or the computer that you're typing on is

01:38consumed worldwide. Our world being one, if you if you are concerned about the

01:48ecological impact of mankind upon your planet and you recognize that mankind is

01:54going to consume petrochemical product, then you would want it produced in the

02:00region of the earth where it's produced the cleanest under the most stringent

02:06regulations and the most industry-driven technological advancement to deliver

02:13clean affordable product. That's the United States of America. Men like Mr.

02:21Reagan have carried a torch, 100% driven by an agenda, to smash the American

02:31energy industry. He's the one that's agenda-driven, not me. The American energy

02:40industry and the American petrochemical industry is, with no debate, the cleanest

02:48producer of affordable energy product and affordable petrochemical product in

02:54the world. And every one of you consume it. Own that. Because that's where we are.

03:06In the future, I have no doubt that there will be a gradual transition to

03:15things unknown. This is the nature of life. This is the way things roll. But to

03:23have it, have an agenda-driven Green New Deal, anti-American, anti-American energy,

03:29anti-American petrochemical agenda, shoved down our throat by an

03:36administration that claims it's doing so on behalf of protecting the world's

03:40ecological stability by forcing the production of these products into

03:46regions of the world that have far less concern about their ecological impact,

03:52that is hypocrisy at its worst. And I, for one, am going to use every authority

04:02that Congress allows me to legally wield to push back against it. Mr. Chairman, I

04:09ask for unanimous consent to enter into the record the joint resolution 161, a

04:15joint resolution calling for the reversal of the EPA rule submitted by

04:22this gentleman and his department. Without a unanimous consent. Without

04:26objection, so ordered. Mr. Reagan, do you have plans for next year, sir? You have

04:32plans for next year? I have plans for every year. What's your plans for next

04:36year? Well, my plans are personal. And I don't know. Well, I'm asking you professionally.

04:42You have plans to continue your battle that you're carrying that torch for?

04:48With you just assaulting me and saying I'm un-American. You think this was an assault?

04:53Now you want to know what my plans are? We're definitely living in two different worlds. Oh, yeah.

04:57We are in two different worlds. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman. I appreciate this hearing being convened.

05:03Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I have an inquiry. Gentlemen from Maryland, Mr. Mfume. I'm going to reclaim my time.

05:11You have time left, Mr. Higgins. Mr. Mfume. I have an inquiry of the Chair.

05:15Mr. Chairman, we disagree on a lot of issues in this committee a lot of times.

05:21But we always ought to look and put a stop sign in front of ourselves when we

05:26start assailing, by name, the personal integrity of any witness. I mentioned

05:33this a few weeks ago with Mr. Fauci. It continues to happen. I want to make sure

05:37I'm on the record so that members of the committee on both sides of the aisle

05:42will at least respect the personal integrity of a witness before this committee.

05:47The Chair recognizes Mr. Higgins for his final few seconds.

05:55This is the Oversight Committee. This is where government is forced to sit in front of Congress and be held accountable for their actions.

06:02Mr. Chairman, isn't the gentleman's time up?

06:08It's not the McCarthy era. It's not the McCarthy committee.

06:13The Chair now recognizes Ms. Norton from Washington DC.

JUST IN: House Hearing Derailed When Mfume Blasts Higgins Over His Remarks To EPA Admin Regan

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