ferk is the lead -- ferc is the lead agency. and ferc testified earlier this year, the deadlines imposed by h.r. 1900 are reasonable. in each case we made those changes at their request. if an agency after h.r. 1900 were to become law, an agency doesn't complete its work, the permit would automatically be approved by statute. and i've heard others say that's unprecedented but that's not the case. there are examples where permits approvals of is deemed necessary. i can't imagine anyone saying this is radical or unprecedent but i don't see how they can claim it's unnecessary. to my left you can see the effect of natural gas. here in the northeast where i'm standing today and on the west coast, you see natural gas 20% above the national average in arizona. 67% above the national average in maine. and 68% above the national average in the state of florida. we are seeing these prices rise because we don't have infrastructure adequate to the needs of manufacturers and consumers in these places. "the new york times" wrote the following

regulators need to do what ferc did, and they need to say, you don't get to play in this park anymore>> there has been a lot of talk recently, if you follow the financial press, that people inside wall street are starting to realize how big a problem these too big to fail banks are, that elizabeth warren gave a speech, they've gotten bigger. there's talk about ratings agencies downgrades. are we headed towards some kind of collision course in which these banks just cannot sustain themselves at the size that they are at right now? >> i think we are already there, and i think the reason that we haven't seen a crisis yet is because behind the scenes, to some extent, a lot of the regulators have been giving them a pass. they haven't been bringing these charges against them. at least in the immediate wake of the crisis, there was tons of liquidity programs that funneled money to the banks. bloomberg did a great one where they asked about and there were billions of dollars that were given in secret by the fed to these institutions. so i actually think we're already at that point. but it's b

ferc already decides 92% of permit applications within 12 months, and the g.a.o. has concluded that its pipeline permitting process is predictable and consistent and gets pipelines built. the small percentage of applications that have taken more than a year involve complex proposals that deserve a more thoughtful review. and instead of speeding up the permitting process, this bill will lead to unnecessary permit denials. and increase litigation that will ultimately slow the process down. if ferc cannot properly review permits within the rigid 12-month deadline, they may be forced to deny applications that would otherwise end up being approved. for me, the most troubling part of h.r. 1900 is that it may result in truncated or inadequate environmental analysis which threatens the health and safety of communities these potentially hazardous pipelines run through. just last week a chevron pipeline exploded in mill forward texas, forcing the entire town to evacuate. mr. speaker, it isn't too much to ask the oil and gas industry to go through a process to make sure that