Sound Policy for America's Energy Needs, Not Hollow Promises

Floor Speech

SOUND POLICY FOR AMERICA'S ENERGY NEEDS, NOT HOLLOW PROMISES -- (House of Representatives - January 16, 2008)

(Mr. BOUSTANY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BOUSTANY. Madam Speaker, across the country, American families are dealing with high energy prices. Families, especially those at risk due to home foreclosure, illness, and job insecurity face high anxiety about just how high these prices will go. Oil and gas prices soared last year, but this Congress did nothing to address the underlying problem. Some suggest an increase in the gasoline tax, a 40-cent per gallon increase. Now that is a lot of money in southwest Louisiana.

Washington must rein in waste and promote energy solutions to meet our energy needs. This Congress should promote sensible policies that unleash American ingenuity to come up with the next generation of alternative fuels. Washington also needs to work to fix our aging roadways and bridges. But we have a responsibility to cut wasteful spending instead of hiking taxes.

Let's do something positive for the people. We can promote energy solutions and fund necessary repairs for our infrastructure. Increasing taxes is not a solution. Let's make the hard decisions, because that is what the American people put us here to do.

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