Boehner to Dem Leaders: Welcome Back … Now Give the American People their Energy Vote
Posted by Nick on September 8th, 2008
House Republicans today welcomed their well-rested Democratic colleagues back to work after their five week break. Gathering on the steps of the Capitol, Leader Boehner and House Republicans continued to demand, as they did through the month of August, that Speaker Pelosi schedule a vote on the American Energy Act (H.R. 6566), an “all of the above” plan to lower gas prices by increasing American energy production, encouraging conservation, and promoting development of alternative fuels.
“If Speaker Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues were truly serious about increasing production of American energy and lowering the price of gasoline, they would call Congress back into session immediately to vote on our ‘all of the above’ energy plan, rather than taking a five-week break away from Washington. While the Speaker now claims to embrace a comprehensive energy plan that includes more conservation, more innovation, and more American energy production, the fact is her new effort appears to be just another flawed plan that will do little to lower gas prices.
“There is no better, more qualified spokesperson for the Democratic Party’s failed energy policies than Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Months of pursuing false solutions to this crisis has left Speaker Pelosi on the wrong side of the American people and a fair amount of her fellow Democrats. Given the opportunity to embrace a more responsible and truly comprehensive plan, the Speaker has instead chosen to double down on an energy policy that puts a premium on massive tax hikes and burdensome government regulations while leaving too much new American energy off the table. In short, Speaker Pelosi’s ‘new’ energy plan is a recipe for more of the same - high energy prices and a dangerous dependence on foreign oil.”
“If the Speaker was truly interested in allowing Congress to vote on a plan to put our nation on the path to energy independence, we would have taken up the American Energy Act, the ‘all of the above’ plan put forward by congressional Republicans. Instead, Democrats gave themselves a five week vacation and told the American people they would just have to wait. When it comes to energy reform, Democrats have quite simply failed to lead.”
“It’s hard to take Speaker Pelosi’s comments on energy seriously as she continues her book tour and refuses to allow a vote on the comprehensive American Energy Act offered by House Republicans. If she were at all serious, she’d cut her book tour and vacation short, get back to work, and work with Republicans to alleviate the pain that Americans currently face at the pump.
Some House Democrats are privately fuming at the pickle Speaker Nancy Pelosi put them in when she turned off the lights in the House chamber and breezed out of Washington for the summer recess without addressing voter concerns about high gas prices. By denying Republicans a chance to make floor speeches about the gas crisis on the day Congress was set to adjourn, she set off an ongoing protest on the House floor that has garnered much publicity.
The Republican floor protest was a completely spontaneous reaction against her heavy-handed tactics. Since then, many Democratic Members have been pressed by voters at town hall meetings and radio call-in shows about why they won’t allow a vote on the GOP proposal for more domestic oil production.
“It’s annoying,” one Democratic House Member admitted to me. “We don’t go back in session until September 8 and this leaves us hanging out there the whole time.”
Even more annoying to some Democrats is that Speaker Pelosi’s rush to adjourn and leave town seems to have been motivated in part by her desire to start a book tour promoting her new memoir “Know Your Power.”
