Bill Text: TX HCR63 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Urging the U.S. Congress to expedite natural gas exports.
Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 73-32)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-05-19 - Laid on the table subject to call [HCR63 Detail]
Download: Texas-2015-HCR63-Comm_Sub.html
| 84R9325 BPG-D | ||
| By: Wu, Darby, Keffer, Anchia, Lozano, | H.C.R. No. 63 | |
| et al. | ||
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| WHEREAS, The United States is the world's largest producer of | ||
| natural gas, but antiquated trade restrictions limit the potential | ||
| of this industry as an engine of economic growth; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In the wake of the 2008-2009 recession, the | ||
| increasing extraction of natural gas from shale formations helped | ||
| lift the nation's economy; this type of gas development supported | ||
| more than 900,000 jobs in 2012, according to a study sponsored by | ||
| the Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy; the | ||
| majority of those jobs had been created even as overall | ||
| unemployment reached some of the highest levels in a generation; | ||
| the booming economy of Texas, a leader in shale gas and liquid | ||
| natural gas production, is a testament to the importance of this | ||
| industry; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Natural gas exports also play an important | ||
| geopolitical role; Russia has been the dominant provider of liquid | ||
| natural gas to European countries, and much of the LNG that they use | ||
| flows through pipelines that cross Ukraine; recent turmoil there | ||
| has threatened energy supplies to Europe, prompting efforts to | ||
| diversify its sources of LNG; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Currently, an American company can export liquid | ||
| natural gas only to the limited group of countries with which the | ||
| United States has existing free trade agreements, unless the firm | ||
| obtains a license by undergoing an onerous application process | ||
| through the Department of Energy; the review of LNG export | ||
| applications has been extremely slow, resulting in costly and | ||
| unnecessary delays in exports to many of our trading partners; | ||
| moreover, this barrier contradicts the nation's historic trade | ||
| policy and inhibits compliance with World Trade Organization rules; | ||
| and | ||
| WHEREAS, The expansion of natural gas exports to all | ||
| countries within the World Trade Organization would bring the | ||
| United States in line with its WTO obligations and build ties with | ||
| East Asia and other parts of the world; expediting these exports | ||
| will spur additional investment in new domestic production and | ||
| increase global supplies of a critical energy source; and | ||
| WHEREAS, At present, the costly and time-consuming | ||
| regulatory limitations on the export of natural gas hinder trade | ||
| expansion and job creation and work against the national security | ||
| interests of the United States; by ending these constraints and | ||
| increasing global supplies of a critical energy source, the nation | ||
| can strengthen its position on the world stage while allowing the | ||
| energy sector to amplify its vital contributions to economic | ||
| growth; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas | ||
| hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to expedite | ||
| natural gas exports; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the secretary of state forward official copies | ||
| of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the | ||
| president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
| members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
| this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a | ||
| memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. | ||
