Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. 1615.

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1615, the Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act. I thank my friend and fellow Energy and Commerce Committee member, Representative Kelly Armstrong, for his leadership and continued work on this initiative.

As I said in our full committee markup last month, the American people have had enough of Washington bureaucrats and Biden administration officials, or Big Brother, dictating every aspect of their lives, from the type of car you drive to what appliance you can use in the kitchen.

Back in January, we heard disturbing reports from one of the Commissioners at the Consumer Product Safety Commission that a nationwide, universal ban on gas stoves was on the table. This type of government overreach would be an assault on Americans' individual consumer freedoms to decide what works best for their own households and budgets.

Republicans stand with the American people, who overwhelmingly agree that banning gas stoves altogether is an egregious overreach and government-knows-best ideology at its worst.

The Gas Stove Protection and Freedom Act will prohibit the CPSC from using Federal dollars to regulate or issue enforcement regulations on gas stoves as a banned product and prevent regulations that prohibit the sale or substantially increase the price of gas stoves while still allowing CPSC to protect consumers in the way that Congress envisioned.

Sadly, the Biden administration's Green New Deal agenda has fueled the flames of radical left State and local governments, and many have already enacted their own complete gas stove bans, such as New York and some cities in California. In fact, many of these cities are facing their own battles, such as in Berkeley, California, the first city to enact a ban in 2019, where the law was recently struck down by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and in Palo Alto, California, where they enacted a ban but admitted to issuing an exemption for celebrity chef Jose Andreas, who argued traditional gas appliances were necessary to achieve their signature complex flavors. This carve-out from the far left is plain hypocrisy.

Meanwhile, down in my State of Florida, we just entered hurricane season, and households that are struggling after a natural disaster takes out their electricity would find it even harder to cook their food without gas stoves.

All of these reasons clearly demonstrate why this legislation is needed to prevent government overreach.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1615. Let's pass this commonsense, bipartisan legislation that supports American consumer choice and freedom for households to decide what works best for their own lives. It makes sense.

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. Rodgers), our chairperson.

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Armstrong), the vice chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson), my good friend.

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce), a very effective member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lawler).

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Pfluger), a good friend of mine and a very effective member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mast), a great American hero and my fellow Floridian.

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, I think that the Democratic Party has an agenda--I really do--and it is the Green New Deal. That is what this is all about. I know how many people love their gas stoves. They love their gas stoves. They switched from an electric stove to a gas stove for a reason.

As a matter of fact, we have a gas stove and have had it for years. My family is very pleased. It is true that the food tastes better, particularly the Greek food tastes a lot better, with a gas stove.

Mr. Chair, I am very much in support of this bill, and I know we are going to get bipartisan support.

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chair, I have one more speaker.

Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Dakota (Mr. Armstrong), the sponsor of the bill.

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise), the distinguished majority leader.

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Walberg).

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chairman, as the distinguished gentleman said, 40 percent of Americans use gas stoves. They are very comfortable with their stoves. Let's not take it away from them.

The other side says that we are not going to ban gas stoves. Let's put the American people at ease.

Now we have seniors who are on limited incomes, and they love their gas stoves.

How are they going to replace them?

Where are they going to get the money to replace these stoves?

Now, again, if we are not going to ban gas stoves, then let's put it in writing. Let's record the votes today. I tell you, Mr. Chairman, we are going to get bipartisan support for this particular bill.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Will the gentlewoman yield?

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chairman, this is a good amendment and will make the bill stronger by preventing product regulation based on the type of fuel it uses. I appreciate Mrs. Boebert for offering this particular amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``yes'' vote.

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.

The motion was agreed to.

Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. McCormick) having assumed the chair, Mr. Mast, Acting Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1615) to prohibit the use of Federal funds to ban gas stoves, had come to no resolution thereon.

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