ODESSA, Texas (Big 2/Fox 24) – Freshman Congressman August Pfluger introduced his first bill last week, just 3 days after taking the oath to officially become the representative for Texas’ district 11.

The bill, called the “Save America’s Energy Future Act” would prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from issuing a moratorium on new federal land leasing for oil and gas drilling; that’s something President-Elect Joe Biden promised throughout his campaign. Rep. Pfluger says, he feels like the industry is at war.

“I truly believe that the industry is under attack, from not just the liberal side, but also this idea that oil and gas is bad, when all of us use it every single day.” said Pfluger.

The Bureau of Land Management has leased thousands of acres of land to oil and gas companies. Most of this land is located in New Mexico, and while it’s not in Pfluger’s district, the impact that it could have would spread beyond The Land of Enchantment. Pfluger says “It directly affects our jobs, our work and our ability to continue to produce affordable, reliable energy for the country.”

“70 percent of the United States production gains have occurred from the Permian Basin,” Pfluger says, on the importance of The Permian Basin. “We’re innovating and doing things that no one else in the world is doing and we’re doing it better we’re doing it faster, we’re doing it more inexpensive. That benefits our country, our economy, and our national security.”

While this is Pfluger’s first bill, and the first one related to the oil industry, he says it won’t be his last. “This is step one for us, that we say we’re not okay with that. The two million jobs in Texas, the close to ten million jobs in the United States depend on this, and this is of national security importance.”