During remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) spoke about an executive order on coal production that President Trump will sign later today.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Mr. President, I come to the floor having just listened to my colleague, the senior senator from New York, the minority leader,
00:06talk about the upcoming efforts from the Republicans with regard to America's economy.
00:13And if you ask me what is the number one goal of the legislation that is being proposed,
00:19it's we want to prevent a $4 trillion tax increase that will hit every working family in this country,
00:30that the Democrats are for.
00:32So he goes on and on about different things in the bill.
00:34Let's get down to the purpose of the bill, and it is to prevent a $4 trillion tax increase that the Democrats support.
00:43I come to the floor today, Mr. President, to talk about a different topic,
00:47and that topic is coal, and specifically Wyoming coal, which is world-class coal, clean coal, low-sulfur coal,
00:58and this is Wyoming coal.
01:02We need more of it, not less of it, to power our nation.
01:07Available, affordable, reliable, this has powered our nation for over a century,
01:14continues to be a major source of power for our nation, and we need it far into the future.
01:20And today, to that case, President Trump is going to sign an executive order making clear his commitment to American energy independence.
01:33The President is moving very quickly in terms of boosting the coal industry.
01:39It's part of this bold plan that the administration has to restore America's energy dominance.
01:44We have more coal in this country than any other country in the world.
01:49It's one of our most affordable, reliable, and abundant sources of energy on the planet.
01:54And in America, we can use that coal cleaner than ever before.
01:59Wyoming's Powder River Basin produces the cleanest burning coal in the world.
02:04Nearly half of all coal produced in America comes from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and our neighboring state of Montana.
02:11Wyoming's energy warriors will lead the way.
02:16For years, Democrats have held coal captive with reckless regulations,
02:22making it harder for us to use American energy and making us more dependent on foreign sources of energy.
02:29Joe Biden took coal offline in America.
02:33Democrats' war on American energy strained our grid, subsidized unreliable energy,
02:39and as a result, energy prices spiked in their administration by 31%.
02:45That hit American consumers, American manufacturers, American families, and it hurt our economy.
02:53Meanwhile, what we know is that China is opening up two new coal-fired power plants each and every week.
03:01Hard to believe, but they're doing it.
03:03They continue to produce, build those power plants in China.
03:06We'll talk about what they want to do with that energy and what we need to do in America
03:11because President Trump is cutting red tape so we can compete again, compete with China,
03:19and coal is making a comeback.
03:21Wyoming wins, America wins, but not China.
03:25America's demands, what do Americans want?
03:27They want affordable, reliable, available power.
03:31They need the energy, and clean coal will deliver it.
03:37American energy is rocket fuel for a stronger economy, also for a more secure nation.
03:44What does more energy mean?
03:45Well, it means lower prices for consumers and manufacturers and producers.
03:50Electricity demand is projected to double by the year 2050.
03:53We cannot meet this demand if we lock up our valuable energy resources.
03:59But that's what the Democrats wanted us to do.
04:03That was the purity plan that they have the last four years.
04:07The high energy prices under this previous administration, it drove up food prices, fuel prices, strained families.
04:15All of this hurt our nation, hurt our economy.
04:17President Trump wants to produce more American energy, and that includes coal.
04:24Investing in American energy, it lowers the cost of food.
04:27It puts more money back into the families' pockets.
04:32This is how we need to deal with the energy crunch that we are facing.
04:36Plus, this creates more American jobs, bring jobs back to our country.
04:42Coal is an engine of our American economy.
04:45And the Democrats continue to treat it as an enemy.
04:49Everything we do in this country relies on energy.
04:53We need more energy, not less.
04:56Steel producers, manufacturers, data centers need steady, reliable power if we are going to compete and win.
05:05Electricity needed for data centers alone is predicted to increase by up to 20 percent each year over the next five years.
05:13Coal will help power them.
05:16It will give our industry an edge, a competitive advantage.
05:21In turn, more workers will find that they get steady, reliable paychecks.
05:27Coal miners will also get new opportunities.
05:30All of America will get a boost.
05:31More American energy also means that data centers, artificial intelligence, who are major users of energy, will grow here in America, not overseas.
05:45With it, we can power our economy.
05:47We can win the energy race.
05:49We can win the AI, artificial intelligence race against communist China.
05:54Look, more energy secures our nation.
05:59Energy security is national security.
06:04Republicans understand it.
06:05President Trump understand it.
06:07That's why he's going to do what he's doing this afternoon at the White House.
06:10And I'm delighted to have been invited to be part of it.
06:12We don't need more liberal energy chokeholds.
06:17Energy independence is what matters for our nation and our future.
06:22You know, Europe last year spent $23 billion on Russian oil and gas because they didn't have enough of their own energy.
06:28Well, that's more money than Europe sent in aid to Ukraine.
06:31This shows you that Europe's energy crisis proves the dependency on our enemies for energy is self-defeating.
06:43America's energy dominance, including clean coal, reduces our nation's vulnerability.
06:49The climate alarmists, and we hear them, we understand, they'll come to the floor to talk about this.
06:54They claim that coal is the energy of the past.
06:57They're misinformed.
06:58Clean coal is a fuel for the future.
07:02It's affordable.
07:03It's reliable.
07:04Ready to go.
07:06President Trump knows that.
07:08He knows that coal is a key ingredient in an all-of-the-above energy strategy and agenda for our nation.
07:14So I look forward to standing today with President Trump to celebrate this victory for Wyoming and for America and for a strong energy future for our nation.
07:27Thank you, Mr. President.
07:28I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
07:32The clerk will call the roll.
07:33It is all, Sir Brooks.
07:34I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and say, I yield the floor and I yield the floor and say