By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
U.S. Rep. Nick Langworthy spoke with reporters Monday about his legislative priorities for the 119th Congress and what his new assignment to the Energy and Commerce Committee could mean to the Southern Tier.
A Niagara County Republican, Langworthy was re-elected to the nine-county 23rd Congressional District with his eye on the Energy and Commerce Committee. He’s the only representative on the committee from the Northeast and the first from New York state in over 100 years.
Langworthy retains his seats on the Agriculture, Oversight and Accountability and Rules committees.
“I sought this committee from the time I started running for Congress” two years ago, Langworthy said of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which not only oversees energy policy, but healthcare, manufacturing and broadband. He spoke during a press conference from the Capital on Zoom.
Every every piece of legislation on President Trump’s early agenda will go through the Energy and Commerce Committee,” Langworthy said. “I’m thrilled that Western New York and the Southern Tier will have a seat at that table to tackle these issues that are so important to our region and to our nation.”
He added: “Jan. 20 can’t come soon enough. I’m very eager to get to work.”
He added: “We have a lot of work ahead of us to steer America back on the right track. We must rein in the federal government so that we lower costs for hardworking families, secure our borders, protect the freedom of individuals, restore our energy independence and end the woke policies of the Left that are holding our country back.”
Langworthy said President Joe Biden’s action to restrict some offshore drilling was “harmful to the nation’s energy supply” and would drive up costs. “That all changes immediately the moment President Trump is sworn into office again, and with the help of a Republican majority in the House and Senate, America can enter a new golden age of prosperity and strength.”
Specifically, Langworthy’s interest in the Energy and Commerce Committee stems from the Southern Tier’s location over the Marcellus shale formation, which has greatly benefited the neighboring state of Pennsylvania. New York, however, has barred fracking in the Marcellus.
“Unfortunately, the same counties hat have Marcellus shale are some of the poorest counties in New York. New York has stolen the opportunity that God gave us.”
The Marce
Langworthy noted, “Our Pennsylvania neighbors have harnessed that opportunity. They have created good paying jobs and opportunities for generations.We can harness this natural gas while being good stewards of the environment.”
New York’s resistance to new pipelines has forced New England states to import liquified natural gas from Russia, Langworthy said. This means instead of using American energy to heat their homes, they must import Russian LNG. “We need to put all possible options on the table to preempt these things and get back to the business of using American fuel and heating our homes with it.”
Langworthy also spoke about his disappointment that the bipartisan Farm Bill the House Agriculture Committee and the entire House approved only to have the Senate fail to vote on it.
The Farm Bill was extended for one year in the last Congress. Langworthy expects to re-introduce the bill soon. One reason most Democrats on the Agriculture Committee did not support the Farm Bill was because it cut support for social programs like food stamps.
Langworthy also expressed support for the Careers Act, which also did not pass the last Congress. It would provide rural job training programs.
The congressman also expressed concern that the state does not share information in the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles database with the federal government’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He expects the new Border Czar Tom Homan to force New York to share DMV information to help keep people safe from violent immigrants.
“I can’t imagine most other states refusing to cooperate with federal officials when they are trying to do something to make all our citizens safer,” Langworthy told reporters. “There needs to be broad-based cooperation.”
On another issue, Trump’s sentencing on his conviction of making hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels which is scheduled for Friday, Langworthy urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to pardon the former president.
“It was a kangaroo court,” Langworthy said. “No other American would have faced that trial. This was set up so they could say President Trump was a convicted felon. The American peo[ple didn’t care.”
He added: Hochul “could use her power to shut this down.”
This is a link to the full Langworthy press conference on Zoom:
