John Boehner - 8th District of Ohio

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Sep 15, 2008

Washington - Our nation’s economy is facing serious challenges that require the attention of elected officials, and the most grave of these challenges is the high cost of gas brought about by our country’s dangerous dependence on foreign oil.  Sky-high energy costs are squeezing family budgets and destroying American jobs, causing significant anxiety around family dinner tables in our region and throughout the nation.  Congress needs to act immediately, and in the most comprehensive, aggressive manner possible, to address this energy crisis and reverse the damage it is inflicting on our economy.  Unfortunately the Democrats who control Congress appear more interested in doing as little as possible.

Since returning from a five-week summer break, the U.S. House of Representatives still has not been allowed to vote on an “All of the Above” comprehensive energy reform plan that will help lower gas prices, create jobs, and put America on the path to energy independence.  Congress was barely in session last week when the Democratic Majority voted to adjourn for a long weekend.

And now we’re waiting on another “no-energy” energy bill to come before Congress that pretends to promote drilling in deep-ocean waters but actually contains zero incentives for coastal states to allow drilling operations.  The Virginian-Pilot newspaper, which serves a community with a large stake in what happens on the Virginia coast, reported recently that “[w]hile lifting a 25-year federal ban on most offshore oil and natural gas drilling, the legislation would block Virginia and other coastal states from sharing in a $2.6 trillion bonanza of tax revenue expected to flow from offshore fields.”  The paper cited critics of the legislation who warn that “[u]nless states stand to profit from offshore development, they almost surely would exercise their right under the bill to block any drilling within 100 miles of their shores.”

That’s not progress.  That’s a hypocritical political maneuver that is an insult to American workers, their families, small businesses and emergency response departments struggling with high gas prices.  

The American people support creating more American energy to bring down prices at the pump, and this latest proposal from out-of-touch Democratic leadership is just more proof of how far some are willing to go to defy the will of the American people.  On Aug. 1, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) sent the U.S. House into a five-week break without bothering to bring up House Republicans’ American Energy Act for a vote.  House Republicans protested on a darkened House Floor and in our home districts, taking our message of a comprehensive energy strategy directly to the American people who are seeing clearly who has a solution and who has empty political rhetoric.  And while Democrats were off on their five-week break, an estimated 84,000 American jobs were lost, some a direct consequence of Washington’s failure to take action secure our energy independence.

This is a time of crisis for the American people.  Jobs are being destroyed, and our economy is suffering.  We’ve also seen the effects of high gas prices on working families over the summer with families cancelling well-earned vacations, on police departments that are relying on foot patrols over vehicles, and on charities such as Meals on Wheels that’s been forced to cut back on meal deliveries to senior citizens.  

This is not a time for half-measures or half-baked solutions designed to give politicians political cover.  Rather, it is a time for bold action.  When it comes to American energy reform, we need to do it all, and do it now.  We need alternative fuels.  We need increased conservation.  We need increased production of homegrown energy.  We need “all of the above.”  

Legislation has been introduced to give the American people the “all of the above” energy reforms they are seeking, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi won’t even allow it to come to a vote.  It’s the clearest evidence yet that Washington is broken, and desperately in need of reform.

If congressional lawmakers want to “stimulate” the economy, we should start by addressing the high gas prices that are crushing family budgets and destroying jobs.  And we should address the problem by enacting the most comprehensive, sweeping energy reforms possible.  The American people want nothing less, and should accept nothing less.

Boehner represents Ohio’s 8th District, which includes all of Darke, Miami and Preble counties, most of Butler and Mercer counties, and the northeastern corner of Montgomery County.  He was first elected to Congress in 1990.