“We can get a conference report to the president’s desk in short order. On the other hand, if some of the Democrats do not want to reach an agreement, I would just tell them, do not assume that this opportunity or this offer will be available in the next Congress.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) delivered the following remarks at the first meeting of the bicameral conference committee on S. 2012, the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016.
Excerpts of Senator Barrasso’s remarks:
“It was no small accomplishment to get to where we are today: the first conference committee on energy legislation in over a decade.
“You (Chairman Murkowski) and Senator Cantwell deserve tremendous credit.
“I also want to thank Chairman Upton, Chairman Bishop, and the members of the House of Representatives for their contributions.
“I strongly support so many of the provisions in the House bill and am going to work to get them included in the final conference report.
“As you’ve said Madam Chairman, conventional wisdom is that this conference committee is unlikely to succeed.
“It is widely believed that there are some Democrats in the Senate, as well as the House, that are going to try to delay reaching an agreement until after the election or perhaps until the next Congress.
“So members have to decide: Do we want to reach an agreement or not? If you do, we can get it done.
“We can get a conference report to the president’s desk in short order.
“On the other hand, if some of the Democrats do not want to reach an agreement, I would just tell them, do not assume that this opportunity or this offer will be available in the next Congress.”
Background
On July 12, 2016, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) appointed Senator Barrasso to serve on the bicameral energy conference committee. The committee is tasked with resolving differences between the Senate- and House-passed energy bills.
The full Senate passed S. 2012, the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016, on April 20, 2016.
Barrasso was successful in including several provisions important to Wyoming in the Senate bill. These include his bipartisan legislation to expedite American natural gas exports (S. 33), a CO2-capture technology provision, tribal energy legislation (S. 209), a helium provision, Bureau of Reclamation transparency legislation (S. 593), and a provision to expand Lincoln County’s Fontenelle Reservoir. For more information on these provisions, click here.
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