Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. PALMER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my amendment.

Federal bureaucrats at the Department of Energy are once again attacking Americans' freedom to choose the appliances that they want in their homes. They tried to take 50 percent of the gas stoves off the market. Now, they are coming for your room air-conditioners. My straightforward amendment would block DOE's overzealous regulation on room air-conditioner units from taking effect.

Summers in Alabama, as you know, Mr. Chairman, are hot. My constituents, like millions of Americans, use air-conditioners to fight this heat. For people who are so concerned about global warming, you would think they would want to make air-conditioners less expensive, not more.

I grew up dirt poor, and we couldn't afford an air-conditioner. That was the case for most of the people we knew where I grew up.

What I am afraid of is that the Biden administration wants us to go back to those times. This rule fits a pattern of Democratic energy policies that make life more difficult and more expensive, especially for low-income and middle-income Americans who will struggle to afford the up-front costs of more expensive air-conditioning units.

Mr. Chairman, this amendment shows the clear difference in the vision between House Republicans and the Biden administration and House Democrats. House Republicans believe in American energy abundance, and the administration believes in energy restrictions. We believe in consumer choice, and the administration believes in heavyhanded government mandates. We believe consumers back home can make their own decisions, while the administration believes Federal Biden bureaucrats should decide what Americans can and can't do on a daily basis.

If a consumer wants a more energy-efficient room air-conditioning unit, they have the freedom to choose one based on what they think is best, not what the Biden bureaucrats think is best. This rule is another example of vast government overreach and should be stopped.

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Mr. PALMER. Mr. Chair, this is another example of bureaucratic overreach. Congress is pretty clear in its lawmaking, and as we are finding out, as the Supreme Court takes up these issues, we are trying to restore legislative authority to this House.

In regard to this amendment, again, as I said, it shows the clear difference between the vision of the House Republicans and the Biden administration and the House Democrats.

I think what the American public needs is the opportunity to choose what they need for their homes, and I believe if we continue down this path with Republican initiatives on energy, we are going to bring down energy costs, but we will also respect the right of American citizens to buy whatever they think they need.

Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``yea'' vote on my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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