FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 24, 2026
CONTACT:
Chrissy Harbin, Miranda Dabney
WASHINGTON, D.C. —Senator Alan Armstrong today convened a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of federal and state leaders alongside industry executives representing America’s energy, manufacturing, mining, and industrial sectors. The engagement, Getting America Building Again: Permitting Reform and America’s Competitive Future, which brought together more than 150 business leaders and policy experts to advance a shared blueprint for comprehensive permitting reform and discuss the urgent need to modernize America’s permitting laws.
Joining Senator Armstrong in the program included: Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), Senator Jon Husted (R-OH), Senator Steve Daines (R-MT), Congressman Troy Balderson (OH-12), Congressman Mike Collins (GA-10), Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01), and Congressman Pete Stauber (MN-08).
The event featured a cross-sector panel of industry leaders representing key links in America’s energy, manufacturing, and industrial supply chains, including natural gas, renewable energy, chemicals, steel, and clean-energy manufacturing. Panelists included Karen Harbert, President and CEO of the American Gas Association; Ray Long, President and CEO of ACORE; Brandon Farris, Executive Vice President of the Steel Manufacturers Association; and Michael Carr, Executive Director of the Solar Energy Manufacturers for America (SEMA) Coalition.
The participants shared a common message: America’s ability to build, compete, and lead depends on a permitting system that is faster, more predictable, and capable of supporting the large-scale investments needed to strengthen energy security, manufacturing competitiveness, and economic growth.
“I often hear debates in Washington about what America needs to succeed. We need more energy. We need more manufacturing. We need more critical minerals. We need more transmission. We need more housing. All of that is true, but the question is whether we can actually build those things. The problem is not that America lacks resources, capital, or talent. The problem is that America has built a permitting system that makes building unnecessarily difficult. This issue is too important for business as usual,” said Senator Alan Armstrong (R-OK). “We need governors who continue creating pro-growth environments. We need industry leaders willing to invest. We need stakeholders willing to engage constructively. And we need Congress to finally address the underlying problems rather than merely treating the symptoms. I look forward to working with each of you as we advance this conversation and build the coalition necessary to get meaningful reform across the finish line. Because the countries that lead the next century will not be the countries that talk the most about building. They will be the countries that actually build.”
“The more friction you create, the less likely something is to happen. And permitting is friction. Takes time, takes money, and it makes it harder for us to compete,” said Senator Jon Husted (R-OH). “If you want affordability, you’ve got to be for permitting reform. That’s how we make life more affordable. That’s how we make America more competitive and we’ve got to get this done.”
“We all want to be able to build things faster, better, cheaper, smarter,” said Senator John Barrasso (R-WY). “Take a look at some of these rules and regulations: they’re burdensome, they’re expensive, and they’re time consuming. What else do we know? The benefits are theoretical, unproven, and exaggerated.”
“Senator Armstrong is giving us the impetus to get this done. Permitting reform is something that vexes all of us,” said Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY). “Some of us are theorists, we’re not practitioners, Armstrong is a practitioner. It’s just paperwork, it’s not real boots on the ground, let’s protect the environment, let’s build. We can do all those things, but we can’t do them if we pile up paperwork unnecessarily.”
“We want to be a country that builds things,” said Senator Peter Welch (D-VT). “We have fights and we have battles about climate issues. We have battles about what’s the right fuel source. We have battles about where projects should go. But let’s have those, and get them ended and resolved so that we can make a decision and move on. We should be spending our time not just fighting projects but building projects.”
“A nation that can no longer build stops leading and starts falling apart. And that’s why nothing would do more for our economy, security, and competitiveness than federal permitting reform,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). “As Senator Armstrong has recognized, we have a great but closing window to get this done and need to make it our top priority over the final months of the 119th Congress. From firm timelines to limits for judicial review, there are many good ideas on the table just waiting to be enacted into law as real solutions to one of our most intractable challenges.”
“As the demand for U.S. energy is expected to grow at least 50 percent in the next 25 years, it’s critical we do everything we can to meet that increase in demand- and that means making it easier to complete critical energy projects,” said Senator Steve Daines (R-MT). “I’m glad to work with Senator Armstrong and our colleagues on ways to provide much-needed federal permitting reforms and unleash American energy.”
“States are not asking Washington to pick winners and losers. In fact, we’re asking them to stop doing that,” said Governor Kevin Stitt. “What we all want is a fair, predictable, technology-neutral process that lets every legitimate project compete on a level playing field. States are ready – we’ll compete for projects. We’ll drive innovation. We’ll keep energy affordable. And we’ll make sure that ‘Getting America Building Again’ is more than a slogan – it’s the reality in Oklahoma and all across this country.”
“You can’t get more electricity on the grid because you can’t get the permits,” said Congressman Mike Collins (GA-10). “My district is very rural, a lot of small towns. The water treatment facility plants in many of those small towns are busting at the seams. When economic growth happens, they can’t participate because it’ll take them ten years to get a permit! So they miss that growth.”
“Without permitting reform, we can’t build the critical infrastructure necessary to restore American energy and mineral dominance, which is essential to lowering energy costs and securing resilient supply chains,” said Congressman Pete Stauber (MN-08). “We are seeing the negative impact in Minnesota’s Eighth Congressional District, where one proposed mining project has been in the works for 20 years due to permitting delays and frivolous litigation. I’m proud to have worked with my House colleagues to have gotten the SPEED Act and PERMIT Act across the line in the House, and I am grateful to Senator Armstrong for his leadership in making sure we finish the job and get comprehensive permitting reform to the President’s desk this Congress.”
“America is falling further and further behind our adversaries. We’re almost further behind than Europe, and that’s saying a lot. We’re failing to build in energy and housing and the basic infrastructure that powers our economic engine. We have to end the normalization of this massive pendulum swing every time administrations change. Businesses can’t invest, they can’t plan when the ground is always shifting beneath them,” said Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01). “There was an Armstrong who was the first man to walk on the moon, and I think it’s gonna be another Armstrong that finally gets permitting reform done here in Washington, DC.”
“As electricity demand continues to grow, Congress must ensure our energy infrastructure can keep pace,” said Congressman Troy Balderson (OH-12). “The biggest obstacle is no longer whether we can build—it’s whether our permitting processes will allow us to build. Permitting reform is essential to strengthening our grid, supporting economic growth, and ensuring American families have access to dependable, affordable energy for decades to come.”
“America cannot achieve energy security, strengthen its supply chains, or remain globally competitive if critical projects are stuck in years of permitting delays. That is why I have worked on reforms like the GEO Act and the FREE Act, which help create a more predictable and efficient permitting process while maintaining environmental protections,” said Congresswoman Celeste Maloy (UT-02). “We can responsibly develop our resources and build the infrastructure our economy depends on, but only if agencies make timely decisions and provide the certainty needed to move projects forward.”
“America’s energy and economic future is at an inflection point, and our ability to meet our economic goals relies in large part on our ability to deliver energy,” said American Gas Association’s President and CEO Karen Harbert. “America’s robust domestic energy resources are our strategic advantage for affordability and national security. Our abundant natural gas reserves have insulated American families and businesses from global price spikes while ensuring we can support our allies around the world. It is imperative that our natural gas infrastructure keeps pace with our domestic needs, and to do that we must modernize our outdated and costly permitting process.”
“We at ACORE appreciate Senator Armstrong’s continued leadership in the conversation about updating antiquated U.S. energy permitting laws,” said ACORE’s President and CEO Ray Long. “We look forward to working with Congressional leaders to enact durable, bipartisan, technology-neutral permitting reforms that will help the United States affordably and reliably deliver the power our economy needs as we confront a surge in electricity demand.”
“We thank Senator Armstrong and his team for making permitting reform a top priority. Few policy challenges pose a greater threat to economic growth than our broken permitting system. The steel industry continues to make historic investments across the country, and every one of those investments depends on access to affordable, reliable energy. Today, we face a crisis in electricity affordability and availability that threatens American manufacturing, investment, and competitiveness, ” said Steel Manufacturers Association’s Executive Vice President Brandon Farris. “Meaningful permitting reform is essential to expanding energy infrastructure, strengthening grid reliability, and supporting continued economic growth. We look forward to working with this strong coalition to advance solutions to one of the most pressing barriers to investment, job creation, and economic prosperity.
“America’s ability to meet growing energy demand, strengthen domestic manufacturing, and compete globally depends on our ability to build projects efficiently and predictably. Solar is expected to account for more than half of all new electricity generation added to the grid for years to come, making a modern and predictable permitting system increasingly important to maintaining energy affordability and reliability,” said Solar Energy Manufacturers for America (SEMA) Coalition’s Executive Director Michael Carr. “The SEMA Coalition supports bipartisan efforts to modernize the permitting process and create a more predictable regulatory framework that enables private investment, strengthens energy security, and supports American manufacturing jobs.”
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