WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in introducing the Unlocking Domestic LNG Potential Act to allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve or deny applications for the siting, construction, expansion or operation of facilities to export or import liquified natural gas (LNG).
Under current law, the Department of Energy (DOE) has the authority to approve or deny LNG exports, yet, under the Biden administration, the department is politicizing American energy production.
“At every turn, the Biden administration yields to the demands of radical climate extremists—and it is putting America’s jobs and national security at risk. Louisiana and many other states rely on the clean energy that LNG provides. We can’t allow the president’s Department of Energy to further jeopardize economic and geopolitical stability with its disastrous permitting pauses,” said Kennedy.
“President Biden’s move to halt American energy exports is pure politics. In fact, exporting U.S. natural gas would actually lower global emissions. President Biden is dead set on bowing to the far-left and making the U.S. and our allies more reliant on foreign adversaries like Russia. Instead, I’m fighting to unleash America’s abundant natural resources, bolster our energy independence and safeguard our national security,” said Scott.
Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) also cosponsored the legislation.
Background:
- On Jan. 30, Kennedy vowed to block President Biden’s nominees to the State Department and the Department of Energy until the administration stops its hostility towards LNG production.
- On Jan. 30, Kennedy and colleagues urged the administration to reverse its decision to pause permitting for LNG export facilities in the U.S., citing a threat to the industry. Louisiana's Calcasieu Pass 2 project is among the 17 proposed LNG terminals Biden's decision froze.
- On Jan. 18, prior to the Biden administration's decision to halt permitting for LNG export facilities, Kennedy warned DOE Secretary Jennifer Graham about the burdensome permitting process.
- In April 2021, Kennedy wrote an op-ed outlining how Louisiana’s energy production could help meet the world’s demand for LNG.
Full text of the Unlocking Domestic LNG Potential Act is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the No Industrial Restrictions In Secret Act (No IRIS Act) to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from using data from the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) to make rules against America’s chemical manufacturing industry.
“The Biden White House is using the EPA’s IRIS to create more red tape for America’s chemical manufacturers, and it is crushing the industry. The No IRIS Act would ensure that unelected bureaucrats do not abuse the IRIS to implement rules that kill Louisiana jobs and hurt our economy without congressional approval,” said Kennedy.
Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) is leading the companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
“Chemistry is the driving force behind American innovation. Computer chips, modern healthcare, housing, infrastructure, agriculture, and energy are all made possible by America’s chemical industry. Unfortunately, the EPA’s IRIS program puts many critical chemistries in jeopardy. The IRIS program has a troubling history of being out of step with the best available science and methods, lacking transparency, and being unresponsive to peer review and stakeholder recommendations. As a result, the IRIS program—which has never been authorized by Congress—produces assessments that defy common sense. We applaud Senator Kennedy for introducing this critical legislation to promote sound science and protect America’s ability to compete and innovate,” said Chris Jahn, President and CEO of the American Chemistry Council.
The No IRIS Act would prohibit the federal government from using the IRIS to inform its rulemakings unless Congress explicitly authorizes the program.
Background:
- The EPA established the IRIS program in 1985 to gather data on how chemicals impact human health.
- Currently, the IRIS program is not authorized in statute. As a result, unelected bureaucrats within the EPA abuse the program to hurt chemical makers with virtually zero Congressional oversight.
- Additionally, the EPA designed the IRIS to spot health hazards—not make policy. Unfortunately, under the Biden administration, the IRIS utilizes unscientific methods that wreak havoc on American businesses.
- In Louisiana, chemical manufacturers, such as those that make products that sterilize medical equipment, support more than $3.6 billion in economic activity and provide 1,700 direct jobs and 5,600 indirect jobs for Americans.
Full text of the No IRIS Act is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act to address reports indicating that Palestinian students are being taught inaccurate or racist content about Israel and the Jewish people.
“The Palestinian people suffer because of Hamas and its radical ideology. The Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act would ensure that not a single U.S. taxpayer dollar goes to schools that teach young children the same hate that inspired the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel,” said Kennedy.
The Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act would require the Secretary of State to submit annual reports examining the curricula Palestinian schools are using to teach students. The reports will review whether Palestinian curricula encourage racist violence against the Jewish people and whether U.S. foreign aid is supporting such material.
Kennedy first introduced the Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act in 2021 to address reports that students of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) teachers were taught antisemitic material.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) cosponsored the legislation.
Text of the Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act is available here.
WASHINGTON – The Senate’s Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) today unanimously passed Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Gary Peters’s (D-Mich.), chairman of HSGAC, Helping Eliminate Limitations for Prompt (HELP) Response and Recovery Act.
The bipartisan bill would enable the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to respond to disasters and other emergencies more efficiently and promptly.
“I’m glad to see that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee unanimously passed our common-sense solution to help the private sector and DHS work better together to respond to emergencies. I look forward to the Senate sending this critical bill to the House so that Louisianians and all Americans get the help they need when disaster strikes,” said Kennedy.
The HELP Response and Recovery Act would repeal Section 695 of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006, which restricts the length of non-competitive DHS contracts for urgent and compelling requirements to 150 days. The repeal of this obsolete regulation ensures that DHS deadlines for emergency contracts follow current government-wide rules that allow contracts of up to one-year.
Text of the HELP Response and Recovery Act is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today authored a bill to ban U.S. funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) permanently.
Kennedy’s bill would also divert unspent U.S. UNRWA funding to protect American citizens by continuing to construct a wall along America’s southern border.
“Hamas uses UNRWA facilities as a shield to perpetuate vicious antisemitic attacks against Israel, and it uses UNRWA resources to indoctrinate the people it is supposed to be caring for. UNRWA employees actively participated in violently massacring Israel civilians last October. The U.S. can’t keep bankrolling a corrupt group that helps Hamas attack our greatest ally in the Middle East, and the Biden administration can’t keep turning a blind eye to its border crisis,” said Kennedy.
Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) have co-sponsored the legislation.
According to reporting this week, “At least 12 employees of the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency had connections to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and around 10% of all of its Gaza staff have ties to Islamist militant groups.” In fact, reporting based on intelligence documents revealed that six UNRWA workers joined the Palestinian militants who “killed 1,200 people in the deadliest assault on Jews since the Holocaust.” UNRWA workers also did logistics work for the attack and procured weapons that terrorists used against civilians.
The U.S. currently contributes more to UNRWA than any other nation, giving the Hamas-front group $343 million in 2022 alone after President Joe Biden reversed former President Donald Trump’s 2018 stop on aid to the group.
UNRWA is one of the largest United Nations (U.N.) programs and relies almost wholly on independent and state donations to run its programs.
Through its mandate, UNRWA is supposed to provide basic education, primary health care, micro-credit and emergency assistance to the residents of Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza. Independent reviews of UNRWA-supplied curriculum, however, have shown that it includes “a systematic insertion of violence, martyrdom and jihad across all grades and subjects.”
The effects of this anti-Semitic indoctrination are far-reaching, as roughly one-third of UNRWA’s budget goes to providing education to refugees.
The links between UNRWA’s educational work and Hamas terrorism became starker with reporting that seven of the UNRWA workers connected to the Oct. 7 attacks taught primary or secondary school children.
Kennedy has also introduced the Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act to document whether Palestinian students are being taught inaccurate or racist content about Israel and the Jewish people.
Hamas has used UNRWA facilities as cover to fire rockets into Israel in the wake of Hamas’ massacre of Israeli citizens.
In 2015, a U.N. inquiry found weapons in UNRWA schools.
Text of the bill is available here.
Kennedy, Hyde-Smith introduce bill to block government from using aborted babies’ tissue for research
Jan 31 2024
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) in introducing the Protecting Life and Integrity in Research Act.
The bill would prohibit federal departments, agencies and offices from conducting, funding or approving research involving human fetal tissue obtained through an induced abortion. It would not prohibit the development of new, high-efficiency cell lines, as long as those lines do not derive from fetal tissue researchers gain access to because of an abortion.
“It’s unconscionable that our government would use American taxpayer dollars to fund research that exploits or depends on the taking of innocent life. If the Biden administration won’t stop this immorality, Congress should,” said Kennedy.
“The harvesting and trafficking of the body parts of unborn babies killed through abortion is heinous and unethical. Taxpayer dollars for medical research should be spent on research that will deliver results for enhancing quality of life, instead of devaluing life for the sake of research. This legislation would stop the Biden administration’s gross abuse of taxpayer funds,” said Hyde-Smith.
Background:
- During the 118th Congress, Kennedy cosponsored legislation to prevent the Biden administration’s Department of Defense from facilitating abortions.
- The senator also cosponsored the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act to permanently stop federal funding for abortions and the Protecting Life in Foreign Assistance Act to stop federal funding from financing abortions overseas.
- In the 117th Congress, Kennedy opposed using taxpayer money to fund abortions and voted against Democrats’ attempt to force states to legalize abortion up to the point of a child’s birth. He also helped lead an effort to defund Planned Parenthood.
- In April 2020, Kennedy urged the Trump administration to ensure that the federal government would not use aborted babies’ fetal tissue in the development of COVID-19 treatments.
Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Ted Budd (R-N.C.) also cosponsored the legislation.
Text of the Protecting Life and Integrity in Research Act is available here.
Kennedy in The Wall Street Journal: No new nominees until Biden admin ends harmful LNG policy
Jan 30 2024
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), the ranking member of the Energy and Water Subcommittee on Appropriations, penned this op-ed in The Wall Street Journal to explain why the Biden administration’s pause on new and pending liquified natural gas (LNG) export permits will hurt America and our allies.
Kennedy announced that he will block all of President Biden’s nominees to the State Department and the Department of Energy until the administration stops this hostility towards LNG production.
Key excerpts from Kennedy’s op-ed include:
“The White House claims this is necessary because the Energy Department based its permit reviews on five-year-old data. That’s their story. Here’s the truth: Climate warriors want President Biden to destroy America’s fossil-fuel industry, but he doesn’t want to pull the trigger himself. By withholding permits, the president can scare away investors, bleed these projects of capital and claim to have clean hands if the terminals close.
“Any way you look at it, Mr. Biden’s blockade is bad for America.
“Consider the Calcasieu Pass 2 export terminal in Cameron Parish, La. Once completed, it will be the country’s largest terminal. Nixing its permit alone would jeopardize $20 billion in investments for American industry and kill thousands of good Louisiana jobs.
“There is no environmental justification for killing these jobs, either. Natural gas is the reason America leads the world in carbon-emission reductions. From 2005-19, natural gas drove a 32% reduction in American carbon emissions while creating 1.4 million manufacturing jobs and ensuring that families paid half as much to heat their homes. Apparently, whatever TikTok influencer convinced the Biden administration to ban LNG permits forgot to mention that side of the natural-gas ledger.”
. . .
“In a recent letter, I warned Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm that her proposed pause on liquid natural gas export permits is an unjustifiably bad policy. The Biden administration listened to the climate influencers instead and tried to bury this foolish ban in a Friday news dump.
“Until President Biden drops this battle against American energy, I’m going to block every nominee he tries to place at the State and Energy Departments. Like the Terminator, I’ll be back again and again to stop his nominees and remind the world that he’s intentionally killing jobs and threatening our national security to placate confused climate extremists.”
Read Kennedy’s full op-ed here. Read Kennedy’s letter to Sec. Granholm here.
MADISONVILLE, La. – Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.), Ranking member of the Senate Energy and Water Subcommittee on Appropriations, Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and colleagues urged the Biden administration to reverse its decision to pause permitting for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities in the U.S.
The Biden administration announced the pause on Jan. 26, 2024, threatening America’s industry and national security interests with dubious environmental justification. Louisiana’s Calcasieu Pass 2 project is among the 17 proposed LNG terminals frozen by this decision.
“American LNG exports have enhanced our geopolitical influence and international energy security across the board since 2016. In addition to Europe, U.S. LNG has a significant impact on energy security in Asia,” the senators wrote.
“Limiting U.S. LNG exports does not have any impact on the world’s demand for natural gas. Instead, countries including Russia and Iran will simply produce more energy that is subject to less stringent environmental regulations. As a result, limiting American LNG exports in the name of stopping climate change could do just the opposite and add to global emissions,” the lawmakers explained.
“According to an ICF study, increased exports of U.S. LNG could create more than 450,000 jobs and increase GDP by $73 billion. Given the recent growth in the domestic LNG industry, those benefits could be even greater today and in the future,” they continued.
“We strongly urge you to stop this shortsighted effort. As the President of the United States and as the Secretary of Energy, you should be championing—not undermining—American LNG exports and the environmental, economic, and national security benefits to the United States and our allies,” the senators concluded.
Background:
- Louisiana’s LNG export terminals account for 63% of all U.S. LNG exports.
- The LNG industry employs 18,000 people in Louisiana and contributes $4.4 billion to the state’s economy.
- On Jan. 18, 2024, Kennedy authored a separate letter warning Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm of the adverse effects of limiting LNG exports through unnecessary permitting burdens.
The full letter is available here.
Kennedy announces $9.2 million in Hurricane Laura aid, emergency protective measures for Calcasieu Parish
Jan 30 2024
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $9,172,282 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana emergency protective measures.
“Hurricane Laura and other storms have rocked southwest Louisiana over the years, and many communities are still recovering. I’m grateful to see this $9.2 million help Calcasieu Parish rebuild and stay resilient in the face of future storms,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $6,358,144 to Calcasieu Parish for repairs to Sulphur High School resulting from Hurricane Laura.
- $2,666,025 to Calcasieu Parish to fund the purchase of 18 permanent industrial emergency generators.
- $148,113 to Calcasieu Parish for management and engineering costs associated with the purchase of the 18 generators.
Kennedy announces $14.1 million in Hurricane Ida aid, protective measures for south Louisiana
Jan 29 2024
MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced $14,089,774 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana disaster aid and protective measures.
“Louisianians are working hard to recover from hurricane damage and protect their infrastructure from future storms. I’m grateful to see this $14.1 million help the people of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes with their recovery from Hurricane Ida and help Cameron Parish prepare for future disasters,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $8,512,546 to Terrebonne Parish to restore Buquet Bridge due to damages caused by Hurricane Ida.
- $1,316,566 to the Greater Lafourche Port Commission to repair damages to the Wilbert Collins Sr. Fourchon Operations Center, the Johnny Melacon Jr. Fourchon Emergency Operations Center and the Fourchon Operations Warehouse caused by Hurricane Ida.
- $4,037,364 to Cameron Parish to fund the first phase of the construction of an electric substation and transmission line.
- $223,298 to Cameron Parish for management costs associated with the first phase of electric substation and transmission line construction.
