WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) delivered a speech on the U.S. Senate floor highlighting Louisiana’s energy abundance and detailing how unleashing American energy will benefit American families, the economy, and our national security.
“The benefits of unleashing American energy go beyond our borders. President Trump’s America First policies are good for the U.S., good for Louisiana, and good for the world,” said Dr. Cassidy.
“America has the resources. We have an abundance. Let’s put it to use,” concluded Dr. Cassidy.
Background
In January, Cassidy released a statement applauding President Trump’s executive order to lift the Biden administration’s harmful pause on liquefied natural gas (LNG) export permitting. In March, Cassidy was joined by U.S. Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) in reiterating support for President Trump’s approach to American energy.
Last year, immediately following the Biden administration’s announcement that they would freeze pending applications for LNG export permits, Cassidy led 25 of his Republican colleagues in condemning the decision. Cassidy later delivered a speech on the U.S. Senate floor blasting the decision. In February 2024, Cassidy penned an op-ed with U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) in the Houston Chronicle underscoring the devastating economic, environmental, and national security impacts of the LNG export freeze.
Cassidy also introduced the LNG Security Act to reverse President Biden’s LNG export ban and require the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to approve LNG exports to all countries that have imported, currently import, or are capable of importing Russian or Iranian natural gas. Additionally, he introduced the Unlocking Domestic LNG Potential Act, which depoliticizes the export of American LNG. It eliminates the requirement for the DOE to authorize exports and instead gives the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) sole authority over the approval process.
Cassidy’s remarks as prepared for delivery are below:
Louisiana fuels the world.
That is what we say in my state. And that is true.
Louisiana accounted for more than 60% of U.S. energy exports last year. The United States is the world’s largest LNG exporter—Louisiana has some of the largest export terminals in the world.
And it’s a whole-of-state initiative! A lot of the gas that we export is produced in the Haynesville shale, which is in Northwest Louisiana.
And that gas comes down to Cameron LNG in Hackberry, Louisiana. That one is capable of exporting 12 million metric tons of LNG per year.
Cheniere Energy in Cameron Parish. 30 million metric tons of LNG per year.
Venture Global in Plaquemines Parish. 27 million metric tons of LNG per year, and it is growing.
President Trump wants to reestablish American energy dominance. That dominance starts in Louisiana.
Louisiana has the infrastructure, the strategic location, and most importantly the workers to put America back on top.
Louisiana’s ports, railroads, highways, and pipelines provide an outlet for gas and oil from landlocked states to export through our ports.
Some oil is transported by rail. And the only place in the United States of America where six major freight railway carriers converge is in—you guessed it—Louisiana.
Our fully integrated, 50,000-mile pipeline network and 11,000 miles of state highways make Louisiana an obvious choice when considering which states can best transport these goods.
We’re positioned where the Mississippi River drains into the Gulf of America.
Besides our LNG export terminals, we have six combined deep draft ports.
Louisiana moves oil and gas, and we also move the refined products of that oil and gas, which is part of fueling the world.
Louisiana is critical to production and distribution of fuel and fuel products.
I’m making these points because reestablishing American energy dominance is about creating better jobs—higher-paying jobs—changing the trajectory of a family in my state and across the nation.
By the end of President Biden’s term, after four years of attacks against American energy production, the Department of Energy reported tens of thousands of jobs lost.
But tens of thousands of jobs is a statistic! **These are real people, real families we’re talking about!
Think of the young couple with children who have lost their job!
The wife immediately wonders how they’re going to pay the house note.
The husband feels as if he’s letting his family down.
The kids see conflict that was never there before between the parents.
Those are human stories and those stories are relived over and over when those jobs are killed. Not because the fuel is not needed, but because the last administration decided they didn’t like it.
That was the case for tens of thousands of Americans under President Biden. His war on American energy was a war on American jobs, which is a war on American families.
That war on the American family is over. I recognize, President Trump recognizes, that American energy dominance fueling our state, our country, and the world—and along with it, giving enough product for the manufacturing of the refined products that we all need—creates with it the high-paying jobs for the Americans who should never have been out of work in the first place.
Woodside Energy recently announced the largest single foreign direct investment in Louisiana history: a $17.5 billion investment in Calcasieu Parish for a new LNG export facility.
It will support 15,000 jobs during construction and, once operational, thousands more after it’s built.
By the way, there are other things we do with this plentiful, abundant energy! There are wonderful spin-offs!
Last month, Hyundai Steel announced a $5.8 billion investment to build a new, next-generation steel production facility in Ascension Parish. The facility is expected to generate $4.1 billion in annual revenue and will bring nearly 1,500 direct jobs to the state, plus thousands of indirect jobs.
That’s low-cost energy paving the way for more opportunity!
By the way, this benefits my state, our nation, but guess who else it benefits? Our allies!
Europe imports 45% of its LNG from the United States. Now they still get 20 from Russia, and the rest from Qatar and other countries.
But WE send them 45% of their LNG. Before the Russia-Ukraine war, it was only 27%!
We have a bill before Congress now to put even stricter sanctions upon Russia. If the Europeans buy even less gas from Russia, they’ll need more gas from us.
We can make up that difference.
With our LNG export facilities and with our gas, I want to send MORE natural gas from the Haynesville shale, through those LNG export facilities, across the Atlantic Ocean, creating tax revenue for my parish governments and wealth for my workers—to help their national security, to help our economy, to help my working families.
The European Union using more U.S. LNG hurts Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
Last year, the EU paid 22 billion euros for Russian natural gas, and Putin used that for his war machine.
Next year, if the Europeans buy that much U.S. natural gas, that’s $25 billion coming to OUR economy!
After Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, America stood up against Putin. Europe did too. Let’s help them do it even more so.
We can help them by saying, “Don’t buy Putin’s gas to fuel his war, buy OUR gas.”
Louisiana is ready to help.
America has the resources. We have an abundance. Let’s put it to use.
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