Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Republicans’ "Energy Emergency" Gimmick That Puts Big Oil Over The American People

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor to condemn Republicans’ so-called "energy emergency" as a power grab benefiting Big Oil, warning that excluding clean energy could lead to higher electricity bills and job losses. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:

I want to thank Senators Kaine and Heinrich for introducing this resolution, and for taking the floor to highlight Donald Trump’s energy emergency gimmick.

We Democrats are using every tool available to expose the Republican hypocrisy, revealing the so-called “energy emergency” for what it is.

It is a shameless power grab by Republicans to pay obeisance to Big Oil, plain and simple. Nothing more, but nothing less.

Republicans are raising prices by excluding clean energy from their emergency, meaning families could see electricity bills go up by $500 a year.

Republicans are killing jobs by gutting domestic energy investments that we made that have created so many new, good-paying jobs.

Republicans are rewarding China by weakening our economic competitiveness and ceding American energy leadership to our adversaries.

The hypocrisy is simple: on the one hand, they say we need more energy for AI and for everything else. But then on the other hand, they greatly curtail the cheapest form of electricity we could make, which is solar, and then wind.

Because really what they're doing is just hugging Big Oil, because Big Oil hates clean energy, and because they know clean energy eventually means the great reduction of polluting oil and gas and what they put into our atmosphere.

Senators Kaine, Heinrich, and all Democrats will continue to shine a spotlight on Republican attacks on domestic energy in the weeks and months ahead.

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