Rep. Bob Latta

R

Ohio – District 5
representative

Leadership

Chairman Energy

119th Congress

News & Announcements

Jul 16, 2025
Press Release

Subcommittee on Health Holds Hearing on Preserving Access to Timely and Affordable Care

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Morgan Griffith (VA-09), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, led a hearing titled Legislative Proposals to Maintain and Improve the Public Health Workforce, Rural Health, and Over-the-Counter Medicines .   “Today’s legislative hearing is necessary to continue essential programs that are vital to our health care infrastructure. Many of the bills before us expire at the end of this fiscal year and must be reauthorized,” said Chairman Griffith. “Considering each of these reauthorizations is an important step forward to ensure each program is working as intended.”   Watch the full hearing here . Below are key excerpts from today’s hearing: Chairman Brett Guthrie (KY-02): “We’re estimated to be over 170,000 physicians short in the next decade. Title VII and Title VIII were created to help increase participation in the health care workforce. How can these programs be improved?” Dr. Candice Chen, MD, MPH: “I think the most important thing is that they are reauthorized. These programs have been very impactful. We find that our health profession training programs rely on them to support training that is focused on areas of need– whether it's specialties and professions, as well as integrating content into curriculum and training.” Congressman Bob Latta (OH-05): “Five years ago, I worked with my Energy and Commerce colleagues to modernize how the FDA regulates most OTC medicines with the enactment of the OMUFA program. These revolutionary changes made the 40-year-old system more efficient, transparent, and open to innovation. I'm very proud to once again be leading this reauthorization of such a critical program. The OMUFA program has drastically reduced the burden on our health care system by lowering the number of visits consumers need to make to a doctor to obtain a prescription for a simple treatment.” Congressman Michael Rulli (OH-06): “I’m proud to join as an original co-sponsor to Chairman Carter's bipartisan H.R. 2493, the Improving Care in Rural America Reauthorization Act. It extends grants and helps rural residents who have trouble accessing health care. I think this is a really interesting bill for myself because I think this is one of the first times that I've actually seen on the hill– versus the state House years that I did– where we have bipartisan support for our cause. I think it's really reassuring and refreshing to see such a bipartisan approach to this problem.”   ###

Jul 15, 2025
Press Release

Chairmen Guthrie and Latta Announce Rescheduled Date for Hearing to Strengthen Pipeline Safety

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Congressman Bob Latta (OH-05), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy, announced a hearing titled Strengthening American Energy: A Review of Pipeline Safety Policy .   “Safe and secure pipeline infrastructure is a vital part of ensuring our nation’s energy dominance,” said Chairmen Guthrie and Latta . “ This hearing will provide us with the opportunity to discuss priorities for pipeline safety reauthorization and examine what steps need to be taken to build and operate pipelines safely and effectively. It’s critical that these pipelines can continue to operate reliably and meet the energy demands of communities across our country."  Subcommittee on Energy hearing titled Strengthening American Energy: A Review of Pipeline Safety Policy   WHAT: Subcommittee on Energy Hearing on pipeline safety policy and examine reauthorization of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) pipeline safety program.  NEW DATE: Tuesday, July 22, 2025  TIME: 10:30 AM ET  NEW LOCATION: 2322 Rayburn House Office Building  This notice is at the direction of the Chairman. This hearing will be open to the public and press and will be livestreamed at energycommerce.house.gov . If you have any questions about this hearing, please contact Calvin Huggins at Calvin.Huggins1@mail.house.gov . If you have any press related questions, please contact Ben Mullany at Ben.Mullany@mail.house.gov . ###

Jun 26, 2025
Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade

Subcommittee on CMT Holds Hearing on The State of NHTSA and Motor Vehicle Safety

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Russ Fulcher (ID-01), Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, led a hearing titled Looking Under the Hood: The State of NHTSA and Motor Vehicle Safety. “Today’s hearing marks the beginning of a bipartisan, member-driven, and stakeholder-informed process to develop a motor vehicle safety title as part of Congress’s broader efforts to reauthorize our surface transportation programs. [...] NHTSA plays a central role in addressing this pressing issue through its education campaigns, regulatory work, and enforcement efforts. Congress must ensure that the agency is equipped needed to fulfill its mission and save lives.” said Vice Chairman Fulcher Watch the full hearing here . Below are key excerpts from today’s hearing: Congressman Bob Latta (OH-05): “I ride just about every year with the Ohio Highway Patrol. And when the troopers are out on the road, they can point out quickly people are not paying attention… it's so important when we go look at this is it's always been safety first, safety last, safety always… AVs that need to be as safe or safer than any vehicle on the road today you know it’s notable that an AV is never tired, it's never distracted, it's never impaired.” Congressman Jay Obernolte (CA-23): “With respect to artificial intelligence in general, I chaired the House AI task force, and we included in our task force report an entire chapter on the issue of preemption because this balance of regulation is so important [Congress is considering] a temporary moratorium on state regulation of AI. And we think that that's necessary to avoid 50 different state regulators going in 50 different directions on something that's clearly interstate commerce and very similar to AV. We think that ultimately regulation of AI will require a partnership between federal and state regulation.” Congresswoman Tom Kean (NJ-07): “As Congress works to ensure that our roadways are safe, I am grateful for the opportunity to hear from experts in the automobile industry on innovation and the impacts that NHTSA is having on safety on New Jersey's roads and across the United States.” ###

Letters

Jan 6, 2025
Press Release

Chairman Guthrie and Chairman Latta Question Energy Department’s Involvement in Biden-Harris Offshore Drilling Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Yesterday, Congressman Brett Guthrie (KY-02), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, along with Congressman Bob Latta (OH-05), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy, penned a letter to Secretary Jennifer Granholm questioning the Department of Energy’s involvement in the Biden-Harris Administration’s decision to prevent new offshore oil and gas production, leading to higher prices for consumers and harming U.S. energy security. KEY LETTER EXCERPT: “Closing off swaths of U.S. offshore areas to energy production, as the Biden-Harris Administration reportedly intends to do, will lead to higher energy prices for American families, the loss of American jobs, and greatly diminish our country’s energy security. As the Secretary of Energy, you have an obligation to weigh in on this matter and insist on a full review of the energy security and economic impacts before any decisions are finalized. “The United States stands at an energy crossroads, facing mounting global security threats and soaring demand for power. Instead of leading the world in energy production, we’ve allowed misguided “green” policies to hamstring our potential. It’s time to unleash American energy dominance again—the federal government must become an ally, not an obstacle, to our nation’s energy security. We look forward to your prompt response to this request, no later than January 10, 2025.” Read the story  here . BACKGROUND: This morning, the Biden Administration announced that more than 625 million square miles of coastline would be off-limits for energy production. Republican Members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce have continuously called on the Biden-Harris Administration to end its attack on American energy production before leaving office on January 20th. The letter requests an explanation of the DOE’s involvement in the decision and whether the White House or the Department of Interior consulted with the DOE about the plans to close off access to offshore resources. Any decision to shut down access to significant American energy resources impacts U.S. energy policy and should be reviewed by the DOE. The Biden Administration’s energy policies have continued to create major harm to America’s energy production and workforce. A unilateral ban on energy production in large swaths of the U.S. coastline will have lasting impacts on American energy production and security.

Oct 7, 2024
Letter

Chair Rodgers Leads House GOP in Demanding Answers Over FCC Fast-Tracking Democrat Mega-Donor’s Media Takeover Weeks Before Election

Soros-linked fund to acquire more than 200 local radio stations weeks before election Washington, D.C. — House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) led 40 of her Republican colleagues in demanding answers from the Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding her recent decision to fast-track a media deal allowing the Fund for Policy Reform, a group aligned with Democratic mega-donor George Soros, to buy over 200 radio stations just weeks before the 2024 election. With a party line vote of 3-2, the decision at the Commission level by the Democratic members of the FCC to temporarily waive the required national security review and allow excessive foreign ownership of American radio stations is deeply disturbing. KEY LETTER EXCERPT: “It is highly concerning that the FCC did not follow regular order for a transaction of this magnitude. Licensees and investors need certainty that the FCC will follow its rules and procedures when approving transactions so that the broadcast industry can have the resources it needs to continue serving the public.”  BACKGROUND: Audacy, Inc., a radio broadcasting group, which owns more than 200 radio-station licenses, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.  Audacy’s filings revealed that a George Soros-backed group known as the Fund for Policy Reform had acquired at least 40 percent of Audacy’s debt.   Audacy estimated that, upon emerging from bankruptcy, 25 percent or more of its stock would be indirectly foreign owned, which triggers FCC review.   This review process requires national security agencies to review the transaction and offer any policy or national security concerns.   On September 30, 2024, the FCC released an Order granting a temporary waiver of this review process, delaying a national security review until after the bankruptcy process is complete and allowing foreign control of a significant number of radio stations across the entire United States, weeks before a national election. CLICK HERE to read Breitbart's exclusive coverage. CLICK HERE to read the full letter.

Jul 25, 2024
Press Release

E&C Republicans Open Inquiry into NTIA’s Online Domain Name Registry Contracts Ahead of Renewal

Washington, D.C. — In a new letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Chair Bob Latta (R-OH), and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA) requested information about the agency’s internet domain name registry agreement with Verisign, Inc. (Verisign). BACKGROUND :  The NTIA represents the United States government on the Governmental Advisory Committee of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the multi-stakeholder, not-for-profit entity that was founded in 1998 to coordinate the Internet domain name system, among other Internet management-related activities. Since 2001, Verisign has operated the .com and .net domain name registries.   Verisign manages the .com registry under two agreements—a .com Registry Agreement between ICANN and Verisign and a Cooperative Agreement between the NTIA and Verisign.  Both of these agreements are in place through November 30, 2024.  As the expiration dates of these agreements approach, some have suggested that the NTIA should reassess certain aspects of both agreements.   Under the Cooperative Agreement’s terms, it will automatically renew on November 30, 2024, unless Verisign provides written notice of non-renewal within 120 days of its expiration.   The Department of Justice has previously recommended ICANN hold a competitive bidding process for renewals of registry agreements.   The current agreement, as amended, has allowed Verisign, with ICANN’s agreement, in each of the last four years of every six-year contract period, to increase the maximum price Verisign charges for yearly registration or renewal of a .com name by up to seven percent over the maximum price it charged in the previous year.   Verisign has since instituted a price increase of the maximum amount in every year it was allowed to do so.   KEY LETTER EXCERPT :  “With both a role in advising ICANN and as a party to the Cooperative Agreement, the NTIA bears responsibility for supporting a domain name system that enables the growth of online commerce. Both individual consumers and businesses depend on responsible management of the .com system. Monopolistic elements and excessive domain name price increases stifle the ability of potential .com registrants to conduct business online.  “As such, we seek more information about the NTIA’s process in considering the renewal of both the Registry Agreement and the Cooperative Agreement.”  CLICK HERE to read the letter.