Ben Cline

Wants to restore America’s energy independence and reduce costs by increasing domestic production and cutting red tape.

“H.R. 1, the Lower Energy Costs Act restores America’s energy independence and reduce costs by: increasing domestic energy production; cutting burdensome government red tape; and reforming the permitting process.”⁷

Supports making the state budget publicly available online for citizen review before votes.

“Thanks to my efforts, the Virginia state budget was published online for the first time and citizens were given ample time to review how their tax dollars would be spent before legislators were allowed to cast their vote.”¹³

Opposes tax credits for wind and solar projects, believing they drive up electricity prices.

“H.R. 1, the Working Families Tax Plan, included provisions to end harmful tax credits for wind and solar projects that were driving up electricity prices.”⁷

Supports legislation protecting the unborn and opposes abortion.

“I have always been a champion of pro-life legislation that protects our God-given right to life, and I’ll never stop fighting for the unborn.”²⁹

Supports an “all of the above” energy policy to bolster American security and economic interests while safeguarding natural resources.

“Congressman Cline supports an “all of the above” energy policy. Therefore, Congressman Cline believes in supporting policies that serve to bolster both American security and economic interests, and also safeguard our natural resources in a responsible manner that does not jeopardize Virginia’s energy jobs or burdens Virginia’s families with high energy costs.”⁷

Supports prohibiting a federal moratorium on fracking to protect and encourage domestic oil and natural gas production.

“H.R. 26, the Protecting American Energy Production Act, which prohibits the president from implementing a federal moratorium on fracking, which protects and encourages domestic oil and natural gas production.”⁷

Supports giving regional transmission organizations authority to prioritize energy projects for grid reliability and lower costs.

“H.R. 1047, the GRID Power Act, which gives regional transmission organizations the authority to prioritize energy projects that can provide stable, baseload power to improve grid reliability and lower costs.”⁷

Supports limiting drawdown of petroleum in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until a plan to increase federal land leasing is submitted.

“H.R. 21, the Strategic Production Response Act limits the drawdown of petroleum in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) until the Department of Energy (DOE) submits to Congress a plan to increase the percentage of federal lands leased for oil and gas production.”⁷

Supports reducing the backlog at the Bureau of Land Management by extending drilling permit lengths.

“H.R. 1067, the American Energy Act helps reduce the backlog at the Bureau of Land Management by extending the length of drilling permits from two years to four years.”⁷

Opposes using funds to take action providing for the United States to become a party to the Paris Agreement.

“H.R. 420, the Blocking Rejoining Paris Climate Accord Act prohibits the use of any funds to take action providing for the United States to become a party to the Paris Agreement.”⁷

Supports authorizing the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline to import oil from Canada to the United States.

“H.R. 684, the Keystone XL Construction and Jobs Act authorizes the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline to construct, connect, operate, and maintain the pipeline facilities in Phillips County, Montana, for the import of oil from Canada to the United States.”⁷

Supports limiting the President's authority to prohibit energy production activities on federal land or waters.

“H.R. 859, the Protecting American Energy Jobs Act limits the President's authority to prohibit or withdraw federal land or waters from energy production activities.”⁷

Supports expanding the expedited application process for natural gas exports to any nation, excluding those under sanctions.

“H.R. 2705, the Natural Gas Export Expansion Act revises requirements regarding natural gas imports or exports to expand the expedited application and approval process to any nation, even if not a party to a free trade agreement with the United States. The bill excludes any nation subject to sanctions or trade restrictions imposed by the United States or excluded by the President or Congress for national security reasons.”⁷

Supports developing a plan to increase oil and gas production on federal lands.

“H.R. 6235, the Strategic Production Response Act provides for the development of a plan to increase oil and gas production under oil and gas leases of Federal lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Defense in conjunction with a drawdown of petroleum reserves from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.”⁷

Supports establishing advanced nuclear goals and making available high-assay, low-enriched uranium for research.

“H.R. 3306, the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act directs the Secretary of Energy to establish advanced nuclear goals, provide for a versatile, reactor-based fast neutron source, make available high-assay, low-enriched uranium for research, development, and demonstration of advanced nuclear reactor concepts.”⁷

Supports empowering States to manage oil and gas development on Federal land and distributing revenue to coastal States.

“H.R. 4294, the American Energy First Act seeks to empower States to manage the development and production of oil and gas on available Federal land, to distribute revenues from oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf to certain coastal States, to promote alternative energy development.”⁷

Supports increasing transparency in government through legislation and public access to information.

“When it comes to the government, I have always believed that sunshine is the best disinfectant. I have a long record of passing legislation to increase transparency in government.”¹³

Supports voter ID requirements to ensure only legal votes are cast.

“I support voter ID requirements which will ensure only legal votes are cast, as well as safeguards to ensure your ballot is protected throughout the counting process.”⁶¹

Wants to ensure Congress has the necessary transparency and procedural ability to accomplish meaningful reform.

“Congressman Cline is committed to serving the constituents of Virginia’s Sixth Congressional District by ensuring Congress has the necessary transparency and procedural ability to accomplish meaningful reform.”⁶²

Supports a resolution that requires a table detailing funding for programs.

“H.Res. 96, the Transparency in Federal Spending Resolution permits Members to object to the consideration of legislation that authorizes or appropriates funding for programs unless the legislation includes a table that details the funding.”⁶²

Attempts to limit bills to only one subject.

“H.R. 872, the One Subject at a Time Act attempts to end the practice of including more than one subject in a single bill by requiring that each bill enacted by Congress be limited to only one subject.”⁶²

Wants all bills, resolutions, and documents of Congress to be electronically searchable.

“H.R. 3403, the Searchable Legislation Act of 2019 establishes a baseline that all bills, resolutions, and documents of Congress be created and stored in a manner that is electronically searchable which would increase transparency.”⁶²

Requires bills to show the entire section of code it is amending.

“H.R. 3402, the Readable Legislation Act of 2019 requires that bills are written in a manner that shows the entire section of code it is amending, which would increase comprehensive knowledge of the effects of the legislation.”⁶²