Chair Rodgers Opening Statement at Hearing to Hold the Radical Biden-Harris EPA Accountable

thank you Mr chairman American families are struggling to make ends meet the Biden Harris administration's radical rush to rush to Green energy policies have fueled outof control inflation which has driven up prices by more than 20% and destroyed the economic stability American families deserve while American families are increasingly worried about unaffordable cost the Biden haris Administration is working relentlessly to expand its radical energy agenda today we'll examine the EPA the most radical EPA to date and it's rush to Green spending spree as well as how we can hold them accountable for the American people in November of 2021 the Biden Harris Administration signed into law the so-called infrastructure investment and jobs act authorizing 1.2 trillion in spending 60 billion of the of taxpayer dollars was provided to the EPA the single largest Grant of funding ever at one time to an agency doubling their overall budget for five straight years not even one year later in August of 2022 the administration provided another 41.5 billion to the EPA in the so-called inflation reduction act as Republicans warned the inflation reduction act did not lower inflation it's it made already surging inflation worse recently pres uh President Biden admitted that the goal of the bill was to fund his radical rush to Green agenda calling it The most significant climate change law ever spending at this pace and scale for any agency should raise concerns but especially for an agency like EPA with their known track record of waste Fraud and Abuse 15 years ago the Obama Administration doled out 787 billion in taxpayer money to pay for a slew of programs and pet projects the EPA was was awarded at that time 7.2 billion nearly doubling its budget at the time even at that level the EPA was not able to responsibly manage the spending the Inspector General at the time found funding that violated various Federal requirements poor guidance from the agency to States and recipients of the money and problems with managing monitoring verifying where the money was being spent and that is why it is incredibly alarming that since President Biden took office the EPA has been given 109 billion in additional funding and grown as Workforce to over 15,000 employees the amount of funding and scope of these laws demand consistent and rigorous oversight by Congress and independent bodies like the Inspector General especially considering failures of the past anything less is a disservice to taxpayers EPA cannot continue to fund the most radical parts of a rush to Green agenda one that puts America on a dangerous path threatens our economic and National Security and enriches our adversaries like China take for example the epa's greenhouse gas reduction fund which is just a 27 billion slush fund of taxpayer money that is vulnerable to waste Fraud and Abuse at an oversight subcommittee hearing we held earlier this year the EPA could not confirm whether or not the Chinese Communist Party could receive money from this fund additionally EPA has issued stringent and burdensome regulations on coal and natural gas fired power plants while also dragging their feed in processing carbon capture permits which are needed to comply with these power plant regulations EPA is imposing harsh government mandates and making it even harder for plants to adjust to the new rules there's countless examples of epa's radical rush to Green Spending and Regulatory policies like these it's troubling that the the inflation reduction act did not provide the office of Inspector General the office that ensures accountability and integrity at EPA funding no funding to conduct necessary oversight in addition to Greater accountability and transparency the EPA also must returned to its core statutory functions which do not include undermining the economic prosperity of the United States or driving up cost across the board for Americans Sunshine is the best disinfectant and I look forward to shining the light on what's happening at the EPA during today's hearing thank you and I yield back gentle lady yields back the chair NE now I will now