Today, Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11) joined Maria Bartiromo on Mornings with Maria to discuss the House passage of his bill, the Protecting American Energy Production Act. Read highlights of the conversation below, or click HERE to watch the full interview.

On the passage of his bill, the Protecting American Energy Production Act:

Rep. Pfluger: "I'll start with this bill, the Protecting American Energy Act, my bill, which is really our first step, Congress's first step in reversing Biden's war on energy. Over the last four years, it was an all-of-government approach to assaulting American energy, and we're back. When you think about unlocking our economy - energy is the foundation. When you want to incentivize manufacturing and other businesses to come back to the United States, you have to have a prosperous but reliable and affordable energy sector and that's what we're doing. That's what this act does..."

"This act was passed last week. It was bipartisan. We hope that it will be taken up in the Senate. There were 16 House Democrats who voted for it. And then, as we look at reconciliation, a large piece of reconciliation is energy. It's making sure that we have the lease sales on federal lands and offshore. It's making sure that we do the deregulation, and there's a huge economic growth factor to deregulation. I heard in an earlier segment that you were talking about this very subject, and we believe that by doing that, businesses will have an easier time growing, recapitalizing, and making things in America. This is what the America First agenda sounds like - it's producing energy here, not in Iran or Russia. But we have to have the structure of deregulation and permitting reform to get to that."

On the status of budget legislation in the House:

Rep. Pfluger: "We do need to increase defense spending. We do need to extend his tax cuts. We do have to take care of things like the debt ceiling extension, but here's the economic impact of this: In 2017 when President Trump passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was one of the biggest changes in our tax code and provided so many additional revenues to the Treasury while cutting taxes. We have to extend that, and we're going to do that. But there are a lot of competing priorities, and really, what the Republican Study Committee has said, what I have come out publicly and said, is it has to be deficit-reducing. The bond markets need to know that we are capable and fiscally responsible to bring our $35 trillion in debt down and start moving in the positive direction. So all these things are priorities. I do believe we'll get it done, and I have faith in Mike Johnson to get this done."

Background:

Congressman Pfluger sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and represents America's most prolific oil- and gas-producing region.

Last week, Congressman Pfluger's bill, the Protecting American Energy Production Act, passed through the U.S. House in a bipartisan fashion, securing 16 democrat votes. This legislation ensures that no future president can ever ban hydraulic fracturing.

Congressman Pfluger is committed to unleashing American energy in the 119th Congress and has already taken several steps to accomplish this goal in the first few weeks of this session, including:

·     Introducing legislation to strike down President Biden's harmful natural gas tax, protect American energy, and unleash American energy;

· Introducing a CRA to support President Trump's pro-energy agenda;

· Commending President Trump's energy-focused executive orders;

· Questioning witnesses in the House Energy and Commerce Committee's

· Environment Subcommittee hearing on “A Decade Later: Assessing the Legacy and Impact of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act”

· Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing on “Strengthening American Leadership in Wireless Technology.”

· Energy Subcommittee hearing on "Powering America's Future: Unleashing American Energy."

Joining "The Signal Sitdown" podcast to discuss the Permian Basin and his plans to unleash American energy.