Right now, we have the highest inflation rate since 1982, 8.3 percent, meaning that the price of goods and services is increasing much faster than people’s wages.  The president’s policies have caused this issue.  He has spent money that the country doesn’t have.  As federal spending goes up very quickly, the economy can’t just simply summon more goods and services into being–those take time to produce, further adding to the upward pressure on prices.  

The Democrats have added insult to injury with their no-holds-barred attack on American energy production.  When President Trump left office, he left us with low gas prices and America as a net exporter of energy.  Under this president, gas prices in Colorado have skyrocketed, while the Governor has cut oil production more than 30 percent by adding new layers of red tape and regulation to the energy sector.  Inflation is a complicated problem, but falling energy prices are a major answer, because every good and service in the economy requires energy to produce.  Cheaper energy means cheaper everything, not just gas. 

Here’s what I’ve done specifically in the area of energy while I’ve been in office:

• Original cosponsor of H. R. 519, the Safeguarding Oil and Gas Leasing and Permitting Act of 2021, which would shut down President Biden’s oil and gas moratorium.  
• Original cosponsor of H. R. 420, the No Taxpayer Funding for Paris Climate Agreement Act, which would ensure that Biden can’t get us back into the Paris Accords that President Trump left.  
• Cosponsored H. R. 543, the POWER Act, to prohibit the President from issuing a halt on leasing and permitting energy and minerals on certain federal land
• Cosponsored H.R. 6886 – PADE Act, which prohibits the importation of crude oil and petroleum products from the Russian Federation.
• Cosponsored H.Res.1101 – Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should support the safe and responsible development of its energy resources via drilling, in an effort to maintain a robust energy supply chain that promotes national security, safeguards against energy scarcity, and reduces energy poverty for all Americans 
• Wrote a letter to President Biden asking for immediate action to be taken to bolster domestic production of critical energy resources and restart construction on Keystone XL Pipeline in light of the war in Ukraine.  
• Signed letter to Secretary Haaland and Director Lefton inquiring about the status of the 2022-2027 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s National Offshore Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, and to push back against the Department’s decision not to appeal a decision banning drilling in certain areas.  

• Sent a letter to United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai expressing concern over the United States’ dependence on China for rare earth elements and urging the Office of the United States Trade Representative take action to ensure that the United States’ supply is not reliant on any single country and to promote opportunities for domestic production in this area.