New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act

Floor Speech

NEW DIRECTION FOR ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, NATIONAL SECURITY, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. ISSA. Mr. Chairman, I am shocked. I'm shocked that this bill and this process is going forward.

When we marked this bill up in the Committee on Government Reform, I was positive that it could not possibly go forward without the section on citizen enforcement being amended, reformed, or eliminated. And yet I am here today not only finding out that it is still in the bill but of the Rules Committee having had the audacity to not even allow it to be considered for amendment.

Mr. Chairman, this piece of legislation is a license for an unlimited amount of suits against the government by the extreme environmental groups. In fact, this bill pays a $75,000 bounty on top of unlimited legal fees to anyone who sues the government even if, in fact, that suit is based on this body's failure to act. Yes. Lawyers will be telling us, by suing us, that we must do more, and there will be no controls. They can sue in all 92 locations around the country. They can sue for any reason. We will have to pay the bill. When they lose, too bad. When they win, they get paid for taking from us not only 100 percent of their legal fees but $75,000 on top of that.

This is a license for America to be held hostage by the trial lawyers. It was deliberate. It was slipped through the committee. They said it was going to be fixed. In fact, nothing has been fixed; and we have been prevented from having an amendment on the House floor. This is undemocratic, and the Democrats know it.

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