Hoeven: Support U.S. Energy & Agriculture Producers to Get Inflation Under Control, Strengthen National Security

Senator Also Discusses Efforts to Establish Unified Health Care System in Devils Lake

DEVILS LAKE, N.D. – At a roundtable discussion with local leaders and members of the Devils Lake Chamber of Commerce today, Senator John Hoeven outlined the need to support U.S. energy and agriculture producers, both to help get inflation under control and to strengthen national security.

To this end, Hoeven is pressing the Biden administration to reverse course on its harmful environmental agenda and empower the nation to realize the full potential of its abundant energy resources, including its coal, oil and natural gas reserves. The senator stressed that bringing down energy prices is essential to provide relief to consumers and to reduce input costs for farmers and ranchers, who face skyrocketing fuel and fertilizer prices.

“U.S. domestic energy and food production are central to our economy and our quality of life, but more than that, they are an essential part of our national security,” said Hoeven. “The Biden administration is taking exactly the wrong approach to energy for our nation. President Biden needs to take the handcuffs off our energy producers, empower them to unlock the potential of our taxpayer-owned energy resources and support the construction of pipelines and other facilities needed to get energy to market. Not only will that help reduce costs across the economy for consumers, but it will better enable farmers and ranchers to continue producing the high-quality, low-cost food supply that Americans depend on every single day.”

Empowering U.S. Energy Production

Hoeven continues to push back on the Biden administration’s burdensome regulations on energy development and is working to advance legislation like his American Energy Independence from Russia Act, which would take immediate action to increase U.S. energy production, including:

Authorizing the construction and operation of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Removing regulatory hurdles to increase liquefied natural gas exports.
Prohibiting any presidential moratoria on new energy leases.
Requiring the U.S. Department of the Interior to hold a minimum of 4 oil and natural gas lease sales in each state with land available for leasing in fiscal year 2022.
Prohibiting the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy from drawdowns of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) until the Secretary of the Interior issues a plan to increase oil and gas production on federal lands and waters.

Supporting Farmers and Ranchers

At the same time, Hoeven is advancing efforts to ensure North Dakota shippers, including farmers and ranchers, have access to reliable rail and ocean shipping services. The senator:

Sponsored the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, bipartisan legislation recently signed into law that will update federal regulations for the global shipping industry and help American producers export their products.
- As one of the four lead sponsors of the bipartisan legislation, Hoeven, along with Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), advanced the bill through the Senate in March, followed by the House of Representatives passing the bill earlier this month.
Has been pressing both the Surface Transportation Board (STB) and rail companies to resolve ongoing rail service disruptions before the fall harvest.
- Hoeven recently held meetings with STB Member Patrick Fuchs and BNSF CEO Katie Farmer to review the public accountability requirements the STB has placed on Class I railroads and discuss progress toward restoring reliable rail service in North Dakota.

Hoeven is also working to help farmers and ranchers recover from last year’s historic drought and in September secured $10 billion in agriculture disaster aid, including $750 million for livestock producers. Hoeven then repeatedly pressed Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to get the assistance to producers as soon as possible, with the aid currently being distributed under the Emergency Relief Program (ERP) and the

Improving Health Care

Hoeven expressed his support to continue to partner with the city and its new Mayor, Jim Moe, to establish a unified health care system in Devils Lake. Hoeven’s office has been in communication with the city’s former mayor, Dick Johnson, regarding improving access to health care in the region. Hoeven discussed efforts to identify and advance a solution that improves the quality of care and is supported by the community.

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