Congressman John Shimkus (R, Illinois-15), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has been selected to take part in a conference committee to reconcile differences between House and Senate energy legislation.
“We’ve seen major changes to the way America produces and uses energy in the last decade,” Shimkus said. “We’re now the world’s leading producer of oil and natural gas, and new technologies and regulations continue to change the way we power our homes and businesses. We need to update federal policies to better reflect these changes, to keep energy costs low and to create more jobs.”
Last December, the House passed H.R. 8, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act. In a speech supporting that legislation, Shimkus reminded his colleagues of the human toll the Obama Administration’s anti-fossil fuel policies are inflicting on central and southern Illinois.
Last month, the Senate passed their own comprehensive energy bill: S. 2012, the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2016. That legislation marked the first time the Senate has approved a major energy bill in almost a decade.
This week, the House voted to add additional House-passed energy legislation to the Senate-passed bill and requested a conference committee to resolve the differences. The conference committee, composed of congressmen and senators, will work to produce a single, compromise bill that will then be voted on by each chamber.
