American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2023 - 33

During audience questions, Domestic
Energy Producers Alliance President Jerry
Simmons urged lawmakers to fight unwarranted
regulations by suing the administration
for exceeding congressional
intent or to file amicus briefs to that
effect when other litigants challenge new
rules in court. Estes affirmed that strategy
and recommended claimants apprise congressional
allies of such opportunities.
" Keep in touch with us so we can get
multitudes of congressional members
across multiple states to sign on to those
briefs, " he advised.
The Congressional Review Act is another
way to push back against regulatory
excess, Marshall noted, pointing to a
CRA measure against the lesser prairie
chicken's listing that he had sponsored
in the Senate and that Mann had introduced
in the House. " It is one of the few ways
to get something through the Senate without
60 votes, " he observed.
" EPA is the eternal punishment agency, "
Mann quipped. " We are fighting regulations
legislatively with CRAs, fighting
in the courts, and withholding funding
through appropriations. It is about doing
all those. "
2024 Election Outlook
After a question from KIOGA PastChairman
Nick Powell broached the subject
of next year's elections, Marshall
suggested that Republicans had a golden
opportunity in November 2024 to claim
a majority in the U.S. Senate. He predicted
the seat held by Senator Rick Scott, RFl.,
would be the GOP's toughest reelection
campaign, but said it was a positive
sign that the state's Republican Governor,
Ron DeSantis, won re-election by
double digits in 2022.
Meanwhile, Marshall continued, Senate
races for seats held by Democrats in
states such as Montana, Ohio, West Virginia,
Pennsylvania and Nevada offered
promising possibilities for Republicans
to make gains. " We have the best chance
we have had in 20 years, " he attested.
However, he acknowledged, the likelihood
that Donald Trump will again be
the GOP presidential nominee raises questions
about down-ticket races in swing
states. " Will the presence of President
Trump on the ticket hurt or help somebody
running in a 'purple' state such as Montana? "
Marshall posed.
He went on to emphasize that Republicans'
campaign message must do more
LEFT: Forcing a large-scale transition to energy sources that cannot keep pace with
demand threatens the modern standard of living, warns author Steve Goreham during his
keynote address on the second day of KIOGA's annual convention. RIGHT: Having
completed her term as KIOGA's top officer during the convention, Andrea Krauss pauses
with new KIOGA Chairman Dana Wreath.
than criticize President Biden, and must
also offer an affirmative vision. " If all we
do is beat up the White House, we are
going to lose these elections, " Marshall intoned.
" We have made a conscious effort
in the national Republican Senate Committee
to recruit candidates that can win a general
election as well as the primary. That is a
big difference between 2022 and 2024, and
I am optimistic about the candidates we
see coming forward in those races. "
LaTurner echoed Marshall's point that
Republicans must speak more about their
goals instead of focusing on objections to
what has transpired. " How can we get this
century to be another American century,
and how are we making sure the American
Dream is still alive for our kids and grandkids? "
he clarified. " We need actual solutions
to the problems we face and should
talk less about the past and more about
the future in an optimistic way. "
With Republicans holding a razorthin,
222-213 House majority, Estes and
Mann both pointed to redistricting's
impact as a significant wild card. " Republicans
won the majority in the House
because we flipped five New York seats
with the redistricting, " Mann recalled.
" It looks like (the courts) are going to require
redrawing the maps in North Carolina
and maybe Alabama and Louisiana.
This majority could evaporate based on
redistricting alone. "
Mann highlighted the difference that
majority made for Republicans after Democrats
held the House, Senate and presSEPTEMBER
2023 33
idency during the first half of Biden's
presidency. " We need control somewhere
to keep disaster away, " he warned. " A lot
of our conversation here has been about
regulation, but it is a lot different from
when the Inflation Reduction Act was
being jammed in our throats. "
Although only four seats swing that
House majority, Mann considered, " the
size of the gavel is not based on the size the
majority. You either have it or you don't.
We have it and it's really important. " ❒
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American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2023

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