AIRules Committee sets floor debate for energy, mining, and immigration bills

House Rules and Floor ProcedureHouse Rules · 2025-12-15 · 119th Congress
The House Rules Committee met to set the terms of House floor debate for six bills: the SPEED Act (NEPA permitting reform), the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act (gray wolf delisting), the Reliable Power Act and Power Plant Reliability Act (grid/FERC reliability rules), and the Kayla Hamilton Act (unaccompanied-minor vetting). Begins at 0:08:04
Transcript
Highlights

Title

Rules Committee sets floor debate for energy, mining, and immigration bills

Purpose

The House Rules Committee met to set the terms of House floor debate for six bills: the SPEED Act (NEPA permitting reform), the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act, the Pet and Livestock Protection Act (gray wolf delisting), the Reliable Power Act and Power Plant Reliability Act (grid/FERC reliability rules), and the Kayla Hamilton Act (unaccompanied-minor vetting). Over four panels the committee heard from bill sponsors and opposing members, then Democrats offered floor amendments that were rejected along party lines before the rule was reported out. Begins at0:08:04

Who spoke

The Chair (presiding)0:08:04: Opened by summarizing all six bills — the SPEED Act's NEPA changes0:12:51, the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act's response to the Rosemont mine decision0:09:24, and the Kayla Hamilton Act's sponsor-vetting requirements0:11:36; later closed each panel and moved between witnesses1:35:033:30:39.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Ranking Member0:13:47: Opened by arguing the bills "do nothing" for constituents on grocery prices or health care and instead help "polluters" and mining companies0:14:48; later objected that only Republican amendments (6 of many submitted) were made in order for floor debate on the SPEED Act4:07:584:10:02.

Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), Natural Resources Committee Chairman (witness)0:16:59: Introduced the SPEED Act as bipartisan-backed permitting reform citing a May Supreme Court NEPA ruling0:18:43; described the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act's response to the Rosemont decision limiting mine waste-rock siting0:20:58; urged delisting the gray wolf under the Pet and Livestock Protection Act, citing recovered populations0:23:15.

Opposing witness (Natural Resources Committee Democrat)0:24:09: Argued the panel's bills favor "big oil" and mining companies while raising electricity costs "by more than" projected amounts over the next decade0:16:00; called the wolf-delisting push politically rather than scientifically driven0:29:11.

Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN)0:31:08: Cited an average 4.5-year NEPA review timeline and inflation-driven cost overruns on infrastructure0:32:55; described wolf predation harming Minnesota livestock producers and said wolf recovery numbers no longer justify federal listing0:36:230:38:11.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC)0:42:52: Cited the Resolution Copper mine as an example of a decades-long, still-unresolved permitting fight0:44:37; compared it to a runway project that took roughly nine years and could have taken far less0:45:23; later pressed Rep. Andy Harris on the Keystone Pipeline as an example of politically reversed permits3:26:41.

Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO)0:59:54: Pressed the SPEED Act witness on shortening NEPA's judicial-review statute of limitations to 150 days, calling it "so substantial it merits further consideration"1:08:20; noted nearly 70 Democrats voted for the related Fix Our Forests Act1:09:10.

Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA)1:12:27: Objected to solar development displacing forest and wildlife habitat in his district1:12:47; argued permitting reform under the Fiscal Responsibility Act already set precedent for timelines1:14:13; in a later panel accused a witness of making false claims about medical procedures at the Irwin County detention facility, briefly calling her a "liar" before apologizing2:17:512:21:11.

Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM)1:18:34: Asked whether the U.S. collects royalties on hardrock minerals mined on federal land and noted oil and gas pay royalties while hardrock mining does not1:19:58; cited Interior Secretary Burgum on blocking foreign adversaries from U.S. mineral access1:22:07; later moved unsuccessfully to amend the SPEED Act to preserve judicial review for "non-unique" public comments4:10:31 and to bar entities linked to China from federal mining projects without paying royalties4:16:27.

Rep. Troy Balderson (R-OH), witness1:36:59: Cited NERC projections of 115 gigawatts of baseload retirements without adequate replacement generation, warning of blackout risk during peak weather events1:37:45; said his bill (Power Plant Reliability Act) lets grid operators and states delay uneconomic retirements that threaten reliability1:39:02.

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Ranking Member Energy and Commerce (witness)1:40:01: Called the bills a partisan effort to keep aging fossil plants online at ratepayer expense1:41:00; said the Reliable Power Act would let FERC block state clean-energy rules and the Power Plant Reliability Act would extend forced plant operation to five years1:42:231:43:15.

Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA)1:46:50: Described an aging, uneconomic fossil plant in her district being kept open under similar rules, comparing it to putting the grid "on steroids"1:47:50; argued the arrangement raises electricity bills to subsidize an unprofitable plant1:50:31.

Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC), witness1:59:23: Recounted Kayla Hamilton's 2023 murder by an unvetted unaccompanied minor released without a background or gang-affiliation check1:59:47; said his bill requires FBI and sex-offender registry checks on sponsors and bars placement with convicted criminals2:04:062:04:31.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), witness2:05:27: Argued the bill would subject children to invasive gang-tattoo screening and family separation rather than preventing trafficking, citing cases like soccer player Reyes Barrios2:06:26; said HSI agents are being diverted from child-exploitation cases to immigration sweeps, citing a cited 33% drop in such investigations2:36:422:37:39.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA)2:40:57: Said as former oversight-subcommittee chairman he found HHS failed to conduct FBI background checks or notify local social services before releasing unaccompanied minors to sponsors2:41:262:42:22.

Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), witness3:17:03: Testified for her SPEED Act amendment adding a savings clause to protect tribal sovereignty and treaty rights3:17:31; cited Oak Flat, Arizona and Chaco Canyon as examples of federal projects proceeding without adequate tribal consultation3:19:52.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), witness3:21:46: Testified for amendments requiring offshore wind projects to be reviewed for hurricane-related structural risk and decommissioning bonds, citing a Block Island turbine blade failure3:22:16; described Ocean City-area litigation over an offshore wind project that could be mooted by a later remand rule3:24:58.

Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY)0:53:27: As SPEED Act witness questioner, cited a Micron chip facility in his district delayed roughly a year by permitting0:53:460:57:34; later moved the final rule for floor consideration of all six bills4:03:23.

Key moments

Bruce Westerman said the SPEED Act responds to a May Supreme Court ruling limiting NEPA review to effects "proximately caused" by federal actions, not indirect or cumulative impacts0:19:00.

Rep. Neguse pressed on shortening NEPA's lawsuit filing window from six years to 150 days, asking why not a middle figure like one to three years; the witness cited nearly 70 Democratic votes for the related Fix Our Forests Act as precedent1:04:311:09:10.

Rep. Leger Fernandez's amendment to preserve judicial review for public comments that are not "unique" — arguing form letters from rural communities shouldn't lose standing — failed on a party-line vote, 9 ayes to oppose4:10:314:15:57.

Her second amendment, to bar mining "entities of concern" tied to China from operating on federal land without paying royalties, also failed4:16:274:19:38.

Frank Pallone said H.R. 3632 would let power plants stay open for five years even while losing money, calling it "the equivalent of" propping up unprofitable fossil generation at ratepayer expense1:42:47.

Rep. Scott accused a Democratic witness of spreading falsehoods about medical procedures at the Irwin County, Georgia detention facility, calling her a liar; he later withdrew and apologized, and the exchange was ordered stricken from the record2:17:512:21:112:25:52.

Rep. Jayapal cited a New York Times report that DHS/HHS reporting showed thousands of unaccompanied children could not be located after release, and said the administration's mass-detention policy has drawn objections from over 225 immigration judges2:28:052:30:50.

Rep. Fry said HHS spent taxpayer funds on programs like "gratitude bracelets" and "positive bingo" for detained minors rather than conducting background or gang-affiliation checks before Kayla Hamilton's killer was released2:00:392:01:05.

Rep. Andy Harris said offshore wind projects cost "4 to 5 times more" than onshore wind while facing hurricane exposure, and objected to a provision allowing agencies to remand permits issued under a prior administration3:24:043:24:58.

Rep. McGovern said only 6 of roughly 25 Democratic amendments to the SPEED Act were made in order for floor debate, compared with Republican amendments submitted after the deadline still being allowed4:07:584:10:02.

Metadata

Official titleH.R. 4776 – SPEED Act; H.R. 1366 – Mining Regulatory Clarity Act; H.R. 3616 – Reliable Power Act; H.R. 3632 – Power Plant Reliability Act of 2025; H.R. 4371 – Kayla Hamilton Act; H.R. 845 – Pet and Livestock Protection Act
CommitteeHouse Rules
Chamber / CongressHouse · 119th Congress
Date2025-12-15
TypeMeeting
Witnesses
(none listed in event metadata)
Videoyoutube
Transcript431 caption blocks · 16,169 words · 4:20:45 runtime
EventCongress.gov 118777