An Open Letter to Speaker Pelosi
by Rep. George Radanovich
August 4th, 2008
An Open Letter to Speaker Pelosi
On Friday August 1, 2008, at 11:23 a.m., your Democrat majority in the House of Representatives adjourned the House for five full weeks.
House Republicans believe that Congress should not go on vacation until we take action to lower gas and energy prices for struggling American families.
For the last two months we and our House Republican colleagues have used every tool at our disposal to try and get you and your Democrat majority to vote on legislation to lower gas and energy prices by expanding environmentally sound domestic production of oil and natural gas, improving energy efficiency, and encouraging the development of alternative energy technologies.
Many of the proposals we have asked you and your Democrat majority to allow us to vote on are bipartisan proposals that we believe would enjoy the support of a majority of the Members of the Congress. Yet because you and your Democrat Leadership personally oppose these proposals, you are not allowing them to come up for a vote. This past Sunday, you even told George Stephanopoulos that you will never allow this vote to occur (see transcript on the reverse).
In protest of you and your Democrat majority not allowing an up or down vote on producing more American energy, we and our House Republican colleagues were prepared to take to the floor on Friday, August 1, 2008, and speak to the nation. Rather than allowing that to happen you and your Democrat majority adjourned the House, turned off the television cameras, shut off the microphones and turned out the lights. Nearly 50 House Republicans remained on the floor of the House in defiance speaking to those citizens gathered in the galleries and to the media.
Today we have again returned to the Capitol to continue speaking to the thousands of Americans from all across our country who are visiting the Capitol. We would have preferred if instead we were joined by our colleagues to have a true debate on this issue that ended in an up or down vote.
We think it is unconscionable that Congress has gone on vacation before we have addressed the high gas prices that are crippling our economy and hurting millions of families. We are asking that you reconvene the House from your five-week vacation and schedule a vote on legislation to increase American energy production. Let us be clear, we are not asking for a guaranteed outcome, just the chance to vote.
Signed by: John Boehner, Republican Leader; Roy Blunt, Republican Whip; Adam Putnam, Republican Conference Chairman; Eric Cantor, Chief Deputy Whip; and Members of the House Republican Conference
STEPHANOPOULOS: … You’ve been getting a lot of heat on — for not allowing a vote, a straight up-or-down vote on expanding drilling off the coasts of the United States. Why won’t you permit a straight up- or-down vote?
PELOSI: … What these — what our colleagues are talking about is something that won’t have an effect for 10 years and it will be 2 cents at the time. If they want to present something as part of an energy package, we’re talking about something. But to single shoot on something that won’t work and mislead the American people as to thinking it’s going to reduce the price at the pump, I’m just not going to be a party of it.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Except that it’s not just Republicans calling for this. Members of your own caucus say we must have a vote. Congressman Jason Altmire, let me show our viewers right now, is saying there’s going to be a vote. Here he says exactly, there’s going to be a vote. September 30th will not come and go without a vote on opening the outer continental shelf. The message has been delivered. The issue can’t be ignored any longer. He says he speaks for a lot of Democrats. He’s talked to the leadership, and a vote must happen.
PELOSI: Well, maybe it will, as it’s part of a larger energy package. … Instead we’re saying, free the oil. Use it, don’t lose it. There’s 68 million acres in lower 48 and 10 or 20 million more acres in Alaska, where they’re permitted, where they could drill anytime. This is a diversionary tactic from a failed energy policy.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But if you feel you have the better arguments, why not give a straight up-or-down vote for drilling?
PELOSI: Because the misrepresentation has been made that this is going to reduce the price at the pump. This is, again, a decoy, it’s not a solution.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, if you’re right, why not let it be debated out and have the vote?
PELOSI: We have a debate every single day on this subject. What you saw in the Congress this week was the war dance of the hand maidens of the oil companies. That’s what you saw on the Republican side of the aisle.
Democrats and Republicans are not right down party lines on this issue. There are regional concerns, as well as some people concerned about what this means back home for them.
But we have a planet to save. We have an economy to grow. And we can do that if we keep our balance in all of this and not just say but for drilling in unprotected and these protected areas offshore, we would have lower gas prices. …
STEPHANOPOULOS: But why not allow votes on all that? When you came in as speaker, you promised in your commitment book, A New Direction for America, let me show our viewers, you said that bills should generally come to the floor under a procedure that allows open, full, fair debate, consisting of a full amendment process that grants the minority the right to offer its alternatives.
If they want to offer a drilling proposal, why can’t they have a vote?
PELOSI: They’ll have to use their imagination as to how they can get a vote, and they may get a vote. But I have tried, you know, we have serious policy issues in our country. The president of the United States has presented this but for this, our economy would be booming. But for this, gas would be cheaper at the pump.
It’s simply not true. And even the president himself in his statement yesterday and before then has said there is no quick fix for this by drilling. …
STEPHANOPOULOS: So you will not permit a vote. You may get beat, but you’re not going to permit a vote on your own?
PELOSI: Well, again, we take this one step at a time. But why we’re spending all this time on a parliamentary tactic when nothing less is at stake than the planet, the air we breathe, our children breathe? We have…
The American Energy Act: Reducing the Price at the Pump through an “All of the Above” Energy Strategy
by Rep. George Radanovich
July 23rd, 2008
House Republicans have transformed their “all-of-the-above” energy strategy into a single piece of legislation: the American Energy Act. The bill – a product made possible by energy policies proposed by Members throughout the House Republican Conference – will increase the supply of American-made energy, improve conservation and efficiency, and promote new and expanding energy technologies to help lower the price at the pump and reduce America’s increasingly costly and dangerous dependence on foreign sources of energy. Bipartisan passage of the American Energy Act would demonstrate to the world that America will no longer keep its rich energy resources under lock-and-key. Not only will it help bring down the price of gasoline now, but it will make needed investments in the alternative fuels that will power our lives and our economy in the future. Following is a brief summary of the American Energy Act: To increase the supply American-made energy in environmentally sound ways, the legislation will:
To improve energy conservation and efficiency, the legislation will:
To promote renewable and alternative energy technologies, the legislation will:
House Republican Housing Principles
by Rep. George Radanovich
April 9th, 2008
Washington, Apr 9 -
Best One Minute of the Day
by Rep. George Radanovich
December 5th, 2007
Energy independence is one of the most critical issues facing our nation. This Congress has a responsibility to the American family to ease the burden they are feeling at the gas pump and reduce the cost of heating American’s homes this winter. Unfortunately, this Democrat majority is either unwilling or unable to accept that responsibility. The majority wants to place unrealistic federal mandates on renewable electricity that will drive up the cost of utilities and mandates on renewable fuel that will increase the cost of food at the supermarket. The American public wants results. That means increasing domestic oil and gas production, building petroleum refineries for the first time in 30 years, and expanding the use of nuclear energy. Instead, the static electricity created by my shoes rubbing across this carpet creates more energy than the Democrat’s energy bill.
Son of Journalist Convicted in Turkey
by Rep. George Radanovich
October 11th, 2007
To those who claim the Armenian Genocide happened too long ago to be relevant today, I would like to direct your attention to the following article:
Time to End Campaign of Denial; Recognize the Armenian Genocide
by Rep. George Radanovich
October 10th, 2007
Tomorrow’s markup in the House Foreign Relations Committee is a key day for H. Res 106, a resolution that calls on the United States to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide that took place in the early part of the twentieth century. As a chief sponsor and former author of this same resolution in previous Congresses, I am well aware of the hurdles facing this legislation. Turkey has an incredible lobbying effort and has historically spent millions of dollars a year to keep this resolution off House floor. In 2000, nearly identical legislation was scheduled for a vote on the floor. I was headed up the stairs of the Capitol as then President Clinton called former Speaker Hastert and asked for the bill to be pulled, and a vote was never taken. There is no excuse for a democracy such as ours to not properly recognize this abomination that took place 92 years ago. It is imperative that America is able to draw clear lines between good and evil, just and unjust—without that ability we are unable to address those inhumanities that are ongoing around the globe today such as in Darfur and Myanmar. Hopefully, the members of the Foreign Relations Committee will take the courageous first step tomorrow and do what is morally right by voting to pass this resolution out of committee and allow for a vote on the House floor. The survivors of the Armenian Genocide who are still with us today deserve to see our country confront and defeat this campaign of denial. It is time for this House to set things right and officially recognize the Armenian Genocide.
A Step Towards Cleaner Air
by Rep. George Radanovich
August 10th, 2007
Washington, Aug 10 - Washington D.C. can be a little too stuffy for me, so it is always great to get back to the District and speak with folks from home. That is exactly what I had the opportunity to do this last Wednesday when I hosted the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Stephen Johnson, for a roundtable discussion on San Joaquin Valley air quality issues. Almost a year ago I was able to arrange for then Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Rob Portman to meet with myself and a few folks from the Valley representing air quality needs. During the meeting we conveyed to Director Portman the importance of securing funds in the President’s budget for cleaning up the San Joaquin Valley’s air. Although it was too late in the Fiscal Year 2008 budget process for additional funds to be inserted, Director Portman understood the severity of the problems that we are facing. During the meeting I suggested bringing the EPA Administrator to the Valley as a means of highlighting the gravity of the Valley’s air situation in an effort to secure funds for FY09. At my request the EPA Administrator accepted the invitation to Fresno for a closer look at our dirty air and to discuss possible solutions. Last Wednesday saw the meeting come to fruition and Administrator Johnson spent valuable time with comprehensive representation of the Valley’s air quality interest groups. Representatives from the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley’s Air Quality Work Group, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, California Air Resources Board, National Parks Conservation Association, the Allergy Institute, Operation Clean Air, and Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, all participated in an informative and thought provoking discussion. The inclusion of such a wide variety of representatives from around the Valley—the Air Quality Working Group alone represents over 300 organizations—made for an inclusive discussion. The Administrator was briefed on the health impacts of our poor air quality; the ozone impact on our national parks; and the specific objective of advancing the recommendation to accelerate attainment of the federal 8-hr ozone standard and PM2.5 standards. All in all, I was very pleased with the end results of the discussion. The Administrator shared with me his delight in seeing so many passionate people engaged in such an important issue. We have a long road ahead in the San Joaquin Valley to achieve the quality of air that we deserve to breath, but this meeting was a productive step towards that goal. Many thanks go to all who participated, particularly Administrator Johnson for taking the time to visit with us. I hope the rest of August proves to be as positive and constructive as this meeting was.
ANCA Video Sets Record Straight on Denial of Armenian Genocide
by Rep. George Radanovich
July 21st, 2007
The Twelve Priciples of Water Policy
by Rep. George Radanovich
June 15th, 2007
Washington, Jun 15 -
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