During a House Oversight Committee hearing before the congressional recess, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) questioned experts on the effects of the Inflation Reduction Act.
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00:00Mr. Higgins. We're sure, Mr. Chairman, it's okay to move forward here. All right, thank you.
00:08Mr. Chairman, I'd strongly oppose the so-called Inflation Reduction Act when Democrats were in
00:17majority in 2022. They jammed this bill through Congress. Conservatives very clearly stated at
00:25the time that the bill would increase deficit spending and have a very negative impact on
00:31inflation. It would impose new and oppressive mandates, and we would end up investing money
00:41that we don't have, all deficit spending, 100 percent of it, deficit spending, investing
00:46hundreds of billions of dollars into fanciful ideas of energy production that would, you
00:55know, ultimately fail. And that's exactly what has happened. So I'd repeal the entire thing
01:03if I could, every word of it. That's not where we are with our bill, because with the current
01:11bill under consideration has been referenced here, because in the spirit of compromise,
01:17you know, we haven't been able to get to 100 percent repeal. The arrogance, like disconnect from
01:29some of my colleagues across the aisle is really stunning. Mr. Chairman, every American family
01:37imagines the wondrous things we could do if we had unlimited money. Great things, no doubt,
01:44if we had unlimited money. In this town, in D.C., the federal government sells treasury bonds to
01:51finance deficit spending. America, especially the youngest out there, listen to you, Uncle Clay,
01:57we don't have the money. Your nation, this generation right now, this Congress, and Congress's past in
02:07modern history is spending money we don't have at a rate that's going to collapse your country upon
02:15your head. We have 37 trillion dollars in debt. That's 37,000 billion dollars. This body is a long way
02:26from balancing the budget. But if we were to balance the budget and run a one billion dollar surplus,
02:34and a billion is a thousand million, if we were to run a one billion dollar surplus, it would require 37,000
02:44years to address a 37 trillion dollar debt. My colleagues across the aisle are just unbelievably supportive of
02:57spending more and more and more money that we don't have. And our country is careening towards bankruptcy.
03:06We face insolvency right now. And we must take courageous corrective action. Regarding the incredibly
03:18misguided and ill-advised IRA, Mr. Lieberman, as compared to affordable and abundant energy,
03:31how has the IRA subsidies impacted investment in so-called sustainable energy?
03:40Have we stacked the deck? Can we put our thumb on the scale, sir?
03:44Oh, definitely. There's a lot of projects underway only because of the generous subsidies.
03:50Only because. Not market driven. Not because of the energy that they will provide. Not because
03:56it's affordable and abundant and transportable and works well with our grid. But because this town,
04:02this federal government has put our thumb on the scale. Am I correct?
04:06That's correct. I'd also add there's an energy success story that didn't require any type of tax credits.
04:15And that's the fracking success story. So let's shift to that. Let's shift to that. I'm going to
04:19ask Dr. McBride because my Democrat colleagues, they act like there were no refineries and no plants
04:26were ever built before 2022. It's insane. I don't know how we powered the entire 20th century
04:33in the first quarter of this century. But we did. We managed to do that without IRA subsidies,
04:41spending money that we don't have. But is it safe to say that private investments and alternative energy
04:49will continue with or without taxpayer subsidies, sir? Yes, absolutely. Certainly the case,
04:55you look at EVs. We know EVs have been around for many, many years. My household,
05:01we actually own a hybrid, purchased like 15 years ago or something. So these technologies,
05:08the batteries that go into... That's going to grow.
05:12This actually goes back decades. The development of the battery technology that we're enjoying now
05:17goes back decades. This stuff was happening with subsidies to some degree, but also due to private
05:26market forces long before the IRA. I concur. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for appearing today,
05:33Mr. Chairman. My time has expired. I yield.