Wrapping up his first year in office, Congressman August Pfluger looks back on a tumultuous time of extreme partisanship and grueling exertions to protect the oil and gas industry and establish the Permian Basin as the most important energy-producing region in the nation.
Interviewed Wednesday morning from his hometown of San Angelo after an information-gathering trip to the Texas-Mexico border, Pfluger said the vehemence of the Biden Administration’s assault on fossil fuels often had him working from before dawn to well into the night.
“Every single day has been full of learning,” the 44-year-old former Air Force fighter pilot said. “Our district needs a voice in Washington because oil and gas and rural America are under attack. There’s been a lot of turmoil and chaos and the country is heading in a direction with new taxes and out-of-control spending that my constituents and I don’t agree with. Trust has been eroded.
“Our district is fueling, clothing and feeding the country and it is vital to our national security with oil and gas.”
Pfluger strongly disapproved of the violence that occurred when supporters of outgoing President Trump stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2020, and he criticized Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for their indifference to mob violence last summer in Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, Seattle and just outside the White House.
“The people have every right to protest, but violence is never acceptable,” he said. “Violent people have been breaking into stores and doing smash-and-grabs all across America and President Biden and Speaker Pelosi have not condemned any of it.”
Asked if Biden has fomented a climate of permissiveness, Pfluger said, “There is no question.
“The permissiveness starts at our border, where the sacredness of having a sovereign nation starts. There is an attitude of breaking the law and degrading law and order that the president is directly responsible for.”
Pfluger said the House Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol lacks credibility because Pelosi barred Republican Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Jim Banks of Indiana from serving on it. “Why is this a partisan thing?” he asked.
“Kicking off Jim Jordan and Jim Banks makes us question the motive. It is a partisan committee that will not produce any sort of reliable result and I don’t think the public will trust the result.”
During his first year, Pfluger said, he wrote 14 bills including the Afghanistan Threat Assessment Act, which became law, a resolution calling on Russia to free former U.S. Marine Trevor Reed of Granbury, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for allegedly assaulting policemen in Moscow, and the Illicit Cross-Border Tunnel Defense Act and Energy Diplomacy Act, which were approved by House committees.
“I also authored bills to secure the border, strengthen election security, nullify vaccine mandates, promote the oil and gas industry, support farmers and ranchers, safeguard the Second Amendment, provide for veterans, stand up for parents’ rights in education and protect the unborn,” he said.
The congressman visited all 29 counties in the 11th Congressional District, held 26 in-person town hall meetings, reached 360,000 constituents through telephone town halls, rescued 650 people from Afghanistan after American troops were withdrawn, responded to over 45,000 letters, emails and phone calls, solved more than 800 constituents’ cases, hosted 15 interns and flew 80 flags over the Capitol, he said.
Asked his view of Washington’s political polarization, Pfluger said, “It’s very disappointing.
“We didn’t get here overnight. It happened over a long period of time. I think 2008-09 was when we saw the partisan pendulum hit the wall on the other side and then there was an equal and opposite reaction. We said, ‘Hey, you’re not listening to our voice and we have a voice, too!’
“I talk to people on the other side of the aisle who say, ‘Yes, but I just can’t do that. I wish I could do something, but the speaker won’t let me.’
“I have a duty to reach across the aisle in a genuine, sincere way because we need to get back to where we can have civil discourse and do what is in the best interests of our country,” he said. “There is a real lack of trust in the government right now with the overreach and mandates. We need transparent discussions. If we’re spending $5 trillion, the public deserves to know exactly where that money is being spent.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California told the Odessa American in a Wednesday afternoon email that Pfluger “has already shown he’s an important voice in the House Republican Conference for protecting American energy security and border security.
“August set an impressive early marker of leadership when he became the first freshman member of either party to introduce a bill in Congress,” McCarthy said.
Referring to his Feb. 11, 2021, trip to Midland with Pfluger and House Natural Resources Ranking Member Bruce Westerman of Arkansas to see a Diamondback Energy drilling rig, McCarthy said, “I enjoyed visiting the Permian Basin, which August fearlessly represents, and learning from the incredible women and men in the Texas oil and gas industry about why their work is such an integral part to powering our country.
“I was also at the southern border with August when our group of Republican lawmakers exposed the fact that known and suspected terrorists were crossing the border in El Paso under the Biden administration. I know August will continue to fight to protect our country as the Lead Republican for Intelligence and Counterterrorism on the Homeland Security Committee and push back on the Biden administration’s assault against American energy production.”
Pfluger said the keys to the Republicans’ regaining control of the House in the Nov. 8 election are promoting greater parental control of education, exposing Biden’s missteps in foreign affairs and the economy and “fighting for what we believe will make this country even stronger.
“We have a plan for 2023 and it starts with giving the American public and parents everywhere a Parents’ Bill of Rights so parents can tell the government what they’ll do with their kids,” he said. “We need to focus on good policy and realign what the administration has done with the Russians and Chinese. The economy has become very inflationary and debt-driven.
“Inflation is at its highest point in 40 years, which we all felt at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Prices have gone up everywhere and in our district the administration is trying to cut oil and gas off at the knees. Biden’s green light to the Nord Stream Pipeline from Russia to Germany is weakening our allies in Europe every day.”
Pfluger said a freshman congressman can only gain influence by listening carefully and showing he is trustworthy. “Winning my primary and election outright allowed me to get to know those I would be serving with early,” he said.
“There are a variety of personalities in Congress and the key to being a successful member is to be humble and approachable. When you speak to people, do more listening than speaking. I’ve brought my passion for serving in the military to serving this district and I truly believe I have established myself and our district as the experts on energy and energy policy.”
