WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, delivered the following opening statement at today’s markup of fifteen bills.

Chairman Guthrie’s opening statement as prepared for delivery:

“Thank you all for being here this morning as we consider vital legislation to support connectivity, address burdensome regulations, and lower costs for Americans.

“Across the country, Americans are confronting the issue of affordability. Today, our Committee will aim to improve consumer choice, secure our grid, and lower prices for the communities we represent.

“For example, the Homeowner Energy Freedom Act would help address home affordability by repealing several costly programs from the mis-named Inflation Reduction Act.

“Under the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department of Energy issued efficiency regulations for nearly every appliance in American households.

“Energy efficiency is important as a general matter, but it’s a major problem when regulations are drafted to meet arbitrary standards despite diminishing returns on actual, cost-effective gains in efficiency.

“The Don't Mess With My Home Appliances Act addresses this issue, for example, by requiring DOE to consider an appliance's full life-cycle cost, including maintenance, when determining if a new standard is justified. 

“We cannot allow ill-considered standards to hurt our ability to power federal facilities, like VA hospitals. The Reliable Federal Infrastructure Act would repeal the required phase-out of fossil fuel use in federal buildings, which could jeopardize our national security. It’s essential that we don’t turn away from needed reliable and affordable baseload power sources.

“Similarly, closing the digital divide and expanding access to reliable broadband will further drive American wireless and AI leadership. I see this first-hand in parts of my district that still lack the service they need to take full advantage of the digital economy.

“NTIA has now signed off on nearly 30 states’ and territories’ broadband plans in the BEAD program. And with billions of dollars heading out the door to get shovels in the ground and finally close the digital divide, we must also remove other barriers to deployment.

“Unpredictable timelines, expensive—and sometimes duplicative—reviews, and a lack of transparency, all contribute to deployment delays.

“The bills we are marking up today put timelines on state and local permitting reviews, limit application fees, exempt certain projects from redundant environmental and historic preservation reviews, encourage federal agencies to prioritize broadband applications, and provide transparency into the opaque federal permitting-review process.

“I want to thank each of the sponsors of these bills—both Republicans and Democrats—for their commitment to ensuring that every American has access to connectivity and we continue our technological leadership through AI and other exciting new technologies.

“As we address the need to lower housing costs, secure our grid, and streamline broadband permitting, today’s markup is a chance to work on the issues that matter most to the American people.”

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