During his first two years in the House of Representatives, Congressman August Pfluger (R-San Angelo) had 30 of his fellow representatives visit the Permian Basin.
Pfluger, who is entering his second term as representative for Texas’ 11th District, is set to match those numbers in a week as 30 members of the House of Representatives are scheduled travel to the Odessa-Midland area.
On Friday morning, Pfluger via phone discussed the importance of having many of his colleagues in the House of Representatives visit the Permian Basin.
“We’ve already had several hearings in congress on energy,” Pfluger said. “I pitched the idea that we need to be where the action is. We need the members to get a sense of the business and a sense of the industry and a sense of the work that goes into it. Honestly, it was a pretty easy sell.
“They want to see what we are doing. They want to see the people that are doing it. They want to understand and learn first-hand why they are doing it.”
There are two field hearings scheduled next week that will be open to the public.
The first will be Natural Resources Field Hearing: “Federal Energy Production Supports Local Communities.” beginning 2:30 p.m. Monday at the The University of Texas Permian Basin, Engineering Building, and the second will be Energy & Commerce Field Hearing on “American Energy Expansion: Improving Local Economies and Communities’ Way of Life.” beginning at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Bush Convention Center.
Pfluger was recently named to serve on the Subcommittee for Energy, Climate, and Grid Security on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He was also selected to serve as the Chairman of the Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence Subcommittee.
“I’m very pleased to bring two very most powerful committees on energy to the Permian Basin,” Pfluger said. “When it comes to educating Americans about what energy does for our economy, for our quality of life and for our national security no where is more important than the Permian Basin.”
Pfluger didn’t detail all of the House of Representatives members that will be in the Permian Basin next week but he did say that Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Jeff Duncan (R-SC) are scheduled to be in attendance.
McMorris Rodgers is the chair for the Energy and Commerce Committee, while Westerman is the chair for Natural Resources Committee. Duncan also serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Pfluger said on Friday morning the members will include Republicans and Democrats.
“To have two congressional hearings in one week in the Permian Basin is unheard of,” Pfluger said over the phone. “To bring what will likely be 30-plus congressmen and congresswomen from across the country both Republicans and Democrats to the Permian Basin in one week is absolutely unheard of.
“The issues that we will be talking about will set the legislative agenda for the rest of this congress.”
