WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today joined Varney & Co. on Fox Business to discuss the repercussions of the Biden Administration’s war on the American oil and gas industry and the need to strengthen NATO and America’s defense.
Partial Transcript
Hagerty on Biden’s war on American energy: “He seems to be kowtowing to the far-left, radical extreme of his party. I mean, they basically, the Biden Administration has waged war against American energy from the day they took office. They killed the Keystone XL Pipeline, you know, they forbade drilling both onshore and offshore on federal lands. They basically sent a very clear message to the marketplace that if you invest in this sector, if you invest in fossil fuel and the oil and gas industry here in America, they’re going to do their best to make it a very bad investment. They’re trying to weaponize the bureaucracy. Just look at some of the people they’re trying to appoint into office here that would take, you know, banking regulations, you name it, and use these as additional means to go after their Green New [Deal] agenda. Again, all to the detriment of our economy.”
Hagerty on Biden’s spending-fueled inflation taxing everyday Americans: “They’ve got to be looking at the same poll numbers that I am. These inflation data are putting the Biden Administration into the tank. I heard the previous conversation about the blame game. You’re going to blame the oil companies, etc. You’re going to blame [Vladimir] Putin, but frankly, the American public is feeling this. It’s the biggest tax increase across the middle class that we’ve seen in decades. So, the Biden Administration is going to have to address it. It’s shocking though, what they’re thinking about doing. They’re sending teams to Venezuela. They’re going to talk about the Iran deal. They’d rather deal with international killers than to work with American drillers to solve this problem.”
Hagerty on Ukraine’s strength and resolve: “The intelligence that we’re getting suggests that the Ukrainians have mounted, as you know, a very brave and courageous fight. The Russians are getting bogged down. If you look at the mistakes that Vladimir Putin has made and the mistakes in judgment, you know, particularly entering when he did and the approach that they’ve taken, the Russians have bitten into a porcupine, to put Tennessee terminology on display. This has turned out to be a much more difficult process for the Russians, and the Ukrainians, I think have inspired people not only there in Ukraine, but around the world to step up, to support their fight back.”
Hagerty on Biden’s upcoming meeting with NATO in Brussels: “He should certainly do everything he can to keep NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] strong. It’s amazing Vladimir Putin has done more to unite NATO than anything else that we’ve seen. I know President [Joe] Biden is trying to take credit for this, but he needs to continue to keep NATO strong, to continue to keep them on board to supply the Ukrainians.”
Hagerty on the importance of bolstering America’s defense: “President [Donald] Trump was the first one to step up our defense spending in a significant way. It had a major calming effect. I served as U.S. Ambassador to Japan in the past Administration. That impact, our presence there in the Asia Pacific, was significant when we stepped up—or increased—our defense expenditures. That certainly should happen again, given the level of threats we’re encountering around the globe.”
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