John Boehner 8TH DISCTRICT OF OHIO

Jul 28, 2010

Washington- Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) issued the following statement on House Democrats’ “CLEAR Act” (H.R. 3534) legislation that will destroy American jobs, increase energy costs, and make America more dependent on foreign sources of energy:
 
“The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico is a terrible tragedy, and reforms are needed to make American deepwater energy production the safest in the world.  But Washington Democrats are exploiting the Gulf tragedy to pass unrelated measures that will destroy American jobs, increase energy costs, and make America more dependent on foreign sources of energy.  The bill they introduced – H.R. 3534 – includes a new tax hike on American energy.  That’s the last thing the American people need, especially struggling families on the Gulf coast.  Americans want the government to focus squarely on holding BP accountable, cleaning up this mess, and finding out what went wrong.

“By raising taxes on the oil and natural gas produced in the United States, this legislation will raise costs for consumers, increase our dependence on foreign energy, and destroy jobs here in the United States.  

“The bill also includes a de facto extension of the moratorium on energy production in the Gulf, which local leaders from both parties say is hurting the people of Louisiana more than the oil spill itself, raises taxes on onshore oil and natural gas production, and creates a slush fund of up to $30 billion.   The motto of Washington Democrats is ‘never let a crisis go to waste’ and, true to form, they are taking the tragedy in the Gulf and exploiting it for their out-of-touch agenda.”

NOTE:  One House Democrat, Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), when he was asked why he was adding a provision on geothermal regulations to this bill in, said, “This is a really nice train leaving the station and probably the only one this Congress.”  Indeed, the CLEAR Act is being sold as a response to the Gulf tragedy, yet House Democrats are including page after page of provisions that are unrelated to the oil spill, will kill American jobs, and are premature by acting before Congress has the full facts from numerous ongoing investigations:

• Raises taxes by more than $22 billion in 10 years – with the taxes eventually climbing to nearly $3 billion per year.  This is a direct tax on natural gas and oil that will raise energy prices for American families and businesses, destroy American jobs, and increase our dependence on foreign oil.  This tax only applies to U.S. oil and gas production on federal leases – giving an advantage to foreign oil and hurting American energy jobs.

• Imposes job-killing changes and higher taxes for onshore natural gas and oil production.  It fundamentally changes leasing onshore by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which affects not just leasing for natural gas and oil, but also for renewable energy including wind and solar.  Forest Service and BLM leasing are shoved into the three new agencies that are replacing the former Minerals Management Service (MMS).

• Provides more than $30 billion in new mandatory spending for two programs that have nothing to do with the oil spill (the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Historic Preservation Fund).  In the version of the bill headed to the House floor, Democrats added brand new language that expressly allows this $30 billion to be earmarked by the Appropriations Committee.

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