HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, Sep 8, 2008 - House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement today after joining House Republicans at a press conference to call on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow an up-or-down vote on the American Energy Act, the House GOP’s “all of the above” plan to lower gas prices by encouraging more conservation and efficiency, promoting the use of more alterative and renewable fuels, and expanding drilling on remote lands and far off American shores in an environmentally-safe way:

“The American people are demanding a vote on ‘all of the above’ energy reforms to lower gas prices – not ‘some of the above’ or ‘a little bit of the above.’  House Republicans conducted an unprecedented revolt on the floor of the House and in communities across the country throughout the month of August demanding a vote on our “all of the above” energy reforms.  We asked Speaker Pelosi to call us back into session, but she went on a book tour and then to the Democratic convention instead, completely ignoring the strain placed on working families and small businesses by record fuel costs.

“Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama are blocking a vote on ‘all of the above’ to appease radical special-interest groups that favor high gas prices and give millions to Democratic campaign coffers.  They’re putting politics ahead of the country’s needs.  And by blocking a vote, they’re blocking our path toward alternative energy.  Under the GOP plan, a share of new drilling revenues will go directly into a renewable energy trust fund to accelerate the development of clean, renewable energy.  The more barriers Speaker Pelosi and Barack Obama leave in place, the longer it will take for America to achieve widespread use of clean, renewable energy.

“Instead of giving the American people the energy bill they expect and deserve, it appears that Democrats will bring up another sham bill loaded up with tax hikes and failed energy policies that will raise gasoline prices further, not lower them.  Any bill that puts 80 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf off limits permanently cannot be called an “all of the above” energy plan, and the American people will not support it.  We have three weeks left in this Congress, and it’s time for the Democrats who control it to do the right thing and give Americans the energy vote they deserve.”

NOTE:  Increased American energy production is a cornerstone of House Republicans’ American Energy Act (H.R. 6566), an “all of the above” plan to lower gas prices by encouraging more conservation and efficiency, promoting the use of more alterative and renewable fuels, and expanding drilling on remote lands and far off American shores in an environmentally-safe way.  Among other things, the bill creates a renewable energy trust fund that would be financed through revenues from drilling from several energy-rich locations in Alaska and far off our shores.  Speaker Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues adjourned Congress on August 1 for a five-week recess without allowing a vote on the GOP plan – or any meaningful energy solutions for that matter – to lower gas prices.

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