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“REINTRODUCTION OF H.R. 8768, THE ``KEEPING AMERICA'S ENERGY RESOURCES MOVING ACT''” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1185 on Dec. 18, 2020.
The State Department is responsibly for international relations with a budget of more than $50 billion. Tenure at the State Dept. is increasingly tenuous and it's seen as an extension of the President's will, ambitions and flaws.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
REINTRODUCTION OF H.R. 8768, THE ``KEEPING AMERICA'S ENERGY RESOURCES
MOVING ACT''
______
HON. RANDY K. WEBER, SR.
of texas
in the house of representatives
Friday, December 18, 2020
Mr. WEBER of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today, with my fellow Texan, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, to bring attention to my bill, H.R. 8768, the ``Keeping America's Energy Resources Moving Act,'' a bill that would solve a thorny issue that has arisen in the U.S. lightering industry, and which affects our nation's energy independence and our national security. A bipartisan group of House members have worked with the House Judiciary Committee, the State Department, and Customs and Border Protection to raise awareness of this critical problem and to identify a solution acceptable to the House, executive agencies, and industry groups. I am grateful for the considerable work put in by my congressional colleagues, the House Judiciary Staff, and affected industry groups to craft this legislative fix, and I hope that the House will act soon to make it law.
For those who do not know, lightering is the use of ``lighter'' vessel to load and off load crude oil and natural gas from very large tanker ships whose draft is too deep to access U.S. port facilities. Lightering vessels and the seafarers who work onboard these vessels are key to supporting and maintaining our domestic energy exports and ensuring imports of needed crude oil as feedstock for our domestic refiners along the Gulf Coast, in Southern California, and in Delaware. That is why the industry is vital to the transport of crude oil and natural gas both in and out of our domestic ports, the lifeblood of the American energy and petrochemical industries. This industry quietly forms the connective tissue that has enabled American energy to power the world. Without the ability to ensure that lightering can take place, there could be crude oil shortages for U.S. refineries resulting in the lack of production of gasoline for our cars, jet fuel for our planes, and heating oil to heat U.S. homes in the winter. It is just that simple.
The problem in question stems from the disconnect between the visas that seafarers rely upon and the necessities of the employment contracts of lightering crews. These seafarers must transit through a U.S. port of entry and remain on board their vessels operating in and out of U.S. waters for up to 180 days in order to perform their tasks as part of a lightering vessel crew, but, under current law, they can only remain for 29 days without being granted parole by Customs and Border Protection--a cumbersome administrative process allowed under U.S. law but one we should not have to rely upon. A fix is needed to replace this band-aid approach. By providing statutory authorization for liquid lightering crewmembers to transit the United States for up to 180 days, this bill will streamline a cumbersome multi-agency process and ensure that the domestic energy production and refining capacity that underlines our economy and national security can continue. For this reason, and this reason alone, we introduced legislation to solve this problem and provide certainty to this industry, and thus to our economy.
Unfortunately, we are now in the closing days of the 116th Congress and have run out of time to enact this technical, but necessary, legislative fix. Therefore, I plan to reintroduce our bipartisan bill, the ``Keeping America's Energy Resources Moving Act,'' in the opening days of the 117th Congress, and I remain committed to solving this problem then.
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