By all accounts, the United States is in the midst of truly spectacular progress in the vital realm of energy. Spurred by technological breakthroughs unleashed by innovation, deregulation and pro-growth policies, we are now producing energy more abundantly and affordably, using it more cleanly and efficiently, and obtaining it from a wider range of sources than anyone ever thought possible.

Gone are the days of America's crippling dependence on foreign energy sources. True energy independence is finally within our grasp and we are exporting more of our energy to our allies.

Nowhere is this stunning turnaround more dramatic than with natural gas.

Thanks to significant innovations in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, the United States is the number-one natural gas producer in the world.

A few short years ago, U.S. natural gas producers were spending billions to construct facilities to import liquefied natural gas (LNG). Today, they are converting investments to export operations and last year, for the first time since Dwight Eisenhower was president, America became a net natural gas exporter.

We currently have two LNG export facilities operating in the United States – Sabine Pass on the Gulf Coast in Louisiana and Cove Point on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland – and another four export terminals under construction. Sabine Pass and Cove Point ship American LNG to 30 nations on five continents.

During a recent visit to Cove Point, I witnessed the historic completion of its LNG export expansion project — a great milestone in America's natural gas journey — and watched as a tanker was loaded and readied for shipment to overseas customers.