PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — House Republicans say they will target Big Tech censorship and will pass legislation to boost the nation’s lagging energy production if they win back the House majority in November.
Big Tech censorship bias emerged as a major grievance among Republicans at their annual policy retreat in North Florida. They say if they win back the House, they’ll quickly move to eliminate federal liability protections for Facebook, Twitter and other tech giants who they accuse of unfairly blocking conservative content.
Section 230 of the Communications and Decency Act currently shields social media and other internet enterprises from lawsuits over what people post online. Yanking that protection would upend those businesses.
“First and foremost is a complete overhaul change of Section 230, the liability protection that big tech platforms now enjoy,” Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said. “That has to change.”
Republicans say they’ll also pass legislation aimed at returning U.S. energy production to Trump-era levels, when the U.S. was at peak energy independence.
The U.S. is experiencing record-high gas prices, partly due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The price increases began much earlier. Republicans have blamed President Biden’s energy policies, including his decision to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline project that would have transported Canadian oil throughout the United States.
Mr. Biden’s defenders argue that rising gas prices are due to other factors, including a post-pandemic increase in demand and price-gouging by oil companies.
Republicans support restarting the pipeline project and dismiss Democrats’ claims that the pipeline would hurt the environment.
“Hands down, the best thing for the environment is to put energy in a pipeline,” said Rep. Garret Graves, a Louisiana Republican heading the GOP’s energy task force.
Mr. Graves said a House Republican majority would reject the Biden administration’s proposed tax increases on fossil fuel producers and will work to retrofit existing nuclear power plants with new technology that would allow them to function as small modular reactors.
“If we take back the majority, we can become energy independent,” Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, said.
Much of the GOP agenda appears aimed at undoing more than a year of changes under Mr. Biden that reversed Trump-era policies that Republicans supported.
The Republican agenda, officially titled “Commitment to America,” would also tackle border security, which the GOP believes was undermined by Mr. Biden’s lax enforcement of immigration laws. Nearly 2 million illegal immigrants crossed into the U.S. last year and GOP lawmakers plan to pass legislation aimed at stopping the surge, including funds to complete the border wall started by the Trump administration.
Mr. Trump did not appear at the event but plans to meet with some House Republican lawmakers and other party officials at a fundraiser in Dallas next month.
Republicans said a central theme of their retreat was maintaining party unity.
A year ago, their post-election retreat was overshadowed by then-House Conference Chair Liz Cheney, who told reporters gathered at the Orlando event that Mr. Trump, who continues to question the legitimacy of Mr. Biden’s victory, no longer spoke for the party.
Ms. Cheney, whom the GOP forced out of leadership job, did not attend this year’s retreat and is facing a primary challenger in her bid for a third term.
Mr. Jordan, who along with Mr. McCarthy maintains close ties to Mr. Trump, said the governing agenda they are writing will keep Republicans unified.
“You actually run on a platform and say here is what we care about, here is what we will do because the American people care about that,” Mr. Jordan said. “That will keep the team together in accomplishing what we told the people we were going to do when we’re ready for the job.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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