Opposing The Comprehensive American Energy Security And Consumer Protection Act

Floor Speech

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to the sham legislation Speaker Pelosi unfurls for us this week. For months, energy and gas costs have impacted every aspect of Americans' lives--prices at the pump, the cost of a gallon of milk, school board budgets, etc.--and today, the Speaker believes that we have cause to celebrate, because at long last, she has unveiled from the deep recesses of her chambers a bill with the word ``energy'' in the title.

But when the champagne toast is over and the streamers come down, all America gets in this so-called ``energy'' bill, is hot air and higher taxes. The bill is merely a reflection of the status-quo, and a fraud on the American consumer paying $4 a gallon gas.

The reality is:

This bill blocks production and 35 years worth of American oil in 88 percent of the outercontinental shelf!

Impedes production in ANWR, with a projected 10 billion barrels of oil, and permanently locks up a trillion barrels of western oil shale.

New refineries to be built on American soil with this bill? Not a chance.

Fifty percent of our power is from coal, yet there is zero encouragement of coal-to-liquids development or clean coal generation.

Even emissions-free nuclear energy gets a backseat in this bill.

Don't look for pro-production measures to reduce prices at the pump, you won't find them here.

What this bill does do is raises taxes and increases electricity costs for families, seniors and small businesses already feeling their wallets being pinched by high gas prices and rising home heating costs.

Simply put, today we do nothing to provide relief at the pump to the citizens of Kentucky and elsewhere. Let's take off our party hats and call today's festivities what they really are--a thinly veiled effort to inoculate the Speaker in November and appease a small group of special interests. I urge my colleagues to reject this Election Day mirage and demand meaningful comprehensive energy legislation for the American people.

Source