Press Releases

Reps. Norman and Comer's Request John Kerry's Testimony Before House Oversight Committee

Letter to Chairwoman Maloney

Washington, D.C., November 18, 2021 | Austin Livingston (803-833-0030)

Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC-5), Ranking Member of the Environment Subcommittee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. James Comer (R-KY-1), Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, sent a letter to the committee Chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-12) concerning John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate.

This letter requests the chairwoman convene a hearing with Mr. Kerry concerning “how the Administration’s climate policies are impacting the American economy, including skyrocketing gas prices, and surging inflation.” To date, the House Oversight Committee has held six (6) hearings related to climate change, but has yet to hear from any Biden Administration official responsible for directing climate change policy.

Read the full letter here.

Rep. Norman issued the following statement on Tuesday: “The real ‘climate crisis’ we face is the Biden administration disregarding sound climate policy in favor of woke virtue signaling and a shameful reluctance to admit the Chinese Communist Party, guilty of human rights abuses, is the greatest threat to this planet both philosophically and ecologically. John Kerry can continue jetting around the globe building his narrative or he can buck up and come have a chat about real solutions to climate change with members of the Oversight Committee.”

Rep. Comer added: “President Biden granted his Climate Czar, John Kerry, the ability to unilaterally set foreign policy and bind the United States to international agreements without consent from Congress. The American people deserve to fully understand Kerry’s role in the Biden Administration and what closed-door deals he is making with any potential foreign adversary. Democrats should begin to take their oversight responsibilities seriously and immediately join our request for Secretary Kerry to appear before this Committee and answer the American people’s questions.”

Background

Committee Democrats have continuously advocated for oil companies to reduce production and have attacked the American gas and oil industry, consequently impacting the U.S. economy and creating a massive energy crisis nationwide.

As U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry’s newly established position was created “to reflect the President-elect’s commitment to addressing climate change as an urgent national security issue,” though the administration’s commitment to addressing climate change has been absent within the Committee on Oversight and Reform thus far despite the roaring domestic energy crisis that continues to worsen.

The Committee on Oversight and Reform exists to hold the Executive Branch accountable and a testimony from John Kerry -- considering the current state of energy in the nation -- is overdue.