The American People Expect Bipartisanship

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE EXPECT BIPARTISANSHIP -- (House of Representatives - September 16, 2008)

Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, the American people believe that Washington, DC, is broken. And this process and this legislation that we are considering today is proof positive of why Washington and this Congress is broken.

The American people expect some bipartisanship on this energy issue. My colleague, John Peterson of Pennsylvania, just discussed a bipartisan proposal. Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, a Democrat, and John Peterson of Pennsylvania have put together a good bipartisan compromise that we should be considering as part of this discussion today. It will advance American energy and American energy jobs.

The bill we're dealing with today says no nuclear, no clean coal--and I'm from Pennsylvania; we care about that. And there's really no oil and gas. That really limits our options as a nation. We want to create American energy jobs, and we want to use the revenues to transition to alternative and renewable energy as well as conserve and realize efficiencies.

The American people expect better. They expect bipartisanship. And what we are considering here today, unfortunately, does not meet that test.

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