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Watch the full interview HERE or read highlights of the conversation below.
Maria Bartiromo: You did your work in the House. You passed this bill before Memorial Day. What are you thinking when you hear your colleagues in the Senate talk like this?
Rep. Pfluger: Number one, we got it done on time, and that gives the predictability to the business community that they know they can plan for next year, that they know they can take the biggest tax cuts that President Trump extended and has enhanced and in many cases made permanent, and plan for next year. And number two, we are saving over a trillion and a half dollars, $1.6 trillion, that's the largest amount of savings ever garnered in 250 years of this country. So it's not perfect. Nobody argues for that, but it is an incredible bill, and we need it to be done quickly. That's the most important thing.
Maria Bartiromo: What about all these green subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act? You know, that's what some people are complaining about as well. I mean, you represent the largest capacity in America for oil and gas drilling in the Permian Basin, and we've talked about the incredible opportunity for oil and gas. Why all of these subsidies for other things, these green energy subsidies? Is it because your colleagues complained about job losses? Why are they still in there?
Rep. Pfluger: It's a great question. I think many of us tried to get to a point where we had a level playing field, a transparent playing field, where we are not just picking winners and losers. We want energy to work on its own. Of course, representing the Permian Basin, we believe that natural gas, we believe that nuclear, and things that are reliable, that have baseload capacity, are the best way to go, and we're going to keep standing up for that.
Maria Bartiromo: What do you want to say about the President's energy agenda, "the drill, baby drill," and the permitting easing, which the deregulation part of the agenda cannot be underestimated, with permitting easing, right?
Rep. Pfluger: He is right. We need to unleash American energy. We need to have energy dominance, and it's important that we get rid of that regulatory posture that Biden tried to kill the industry with. He tried to use every tool possible in every agency and every way to do that. But we're resilient. The President now understands, President Trump understands that American energy, producing it here, unleashing our domestic potential, is the foundation for every business in this country, including national security issues.
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