When I became Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, I promised that I’d partner with the American people to deliver solutions to the many crises facing families, farmers, and millions of working-class Americans. That’s why I brought the Ways and Means Committee to Yukon, Oklahoma, last week to hear directly from working Americans about the state of our nation’s economy in the Heartland.
Oklahoma is a place where self-reliance and the frontier spirit run deep. Oil, natural gas, and agriculture built Oklahoma and continue to drive its economy today. And yet, Washington Democrats have targeted communities like Yukon with the heavy hand of government. And as the hearing made it abundantly clear, the consequences are absolutely devastating.
Between the long hours and physical demands that come with the job, operating a farm or ranch isn’t easy. As a farm owner myself, I know that the last thing our farmers and ranchers need is big government getting in their way. In her remarks to the committee, Kelli Payne – a fifth-generation farmer and rancher – hit the nail on the head when she described the challenges facing family-run farms in Biden’s painful economy: “The struggles of drought are exacerbated by high input costs, including fuel, feed, and other supplies. … We have enough challenges with Mother Nature; let’s not compound the problem with more regulations.”
Getting big government off the backs of the men and women who produce the fuel, food, and fertilizer that’s sold around the world was a common theme at our hearing. Fortunately, the Republican House majority is fighting back. Just last week, we passed a measure to block Biden’s Waters of the U.S. rule (WOTUS), which would give unelected bureaucrats even more command and control over the property and lives of rural Missourians. Rolling back bureaucratic red tape will continue to be a main priority for House Republicans.
The hearing in Yukon also underscored the devastating impact of the Left’s war on American-made energy. Today, two thirds of all the energy produced in Oklahoma is sent across the country and around the world. But even in Oklahoma – a state with plentiful energy – diesel prices were 62% higher at their peak than the day Joe Biden became president. Joe Brevetti, owner and founder of an oil well drilling company in Oklahoma, told the committee, “Burdensome regulations and increased taxes on oil and natural gas production hamper the ability of companies like ours to put Americans to work and bring affordable energy to families across the country.” That’s exactly why I’ve fought to end Biden and the Left’s war on American energy, where they’re using tax hikes and burdensome regulations as a weapon to stifle – and ultimately eliminate – energy production here at home.
Our nation’s most valuable economic resource is the American worker – the oil drillers, small business owners, farmers, and ranchers. Sadly, these men and women who drive the economy were completely forgotten during the past two years of one-party Democrat rule in Washington. That’s exactly why the Ways and Means Committee is holding hearings in communities far beyond the marble halls of Congress. For the first time in years, the American worker – not lobbyists or special interests – are directly shaping the policies and legislation we need to make our nation and economy great again.
