American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009

AMERICAN CLEAN ENERGY AND SECURITY ACT OF 2009 -- (House of Representatives - June 26, 2009)

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Mr. ROGERS of Michigan. Madam Speaker, my appreciation for your years in the House and your great service here. Congratulations and great success in your new endeavor.

I agree, Madam Speaker, with President Obama and Warren Buffett: under this bill, ``Electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket.'' Under this bill, we create the single largest energy tax in United States history. Warren Buffett called it ``a huge tax, and there's no sense calling it anything else. Very poor people are going to pay a lot more for electricity.''

Last night, in my district, a utility company calculated its estimate of what this bill will cost the families in my district. It will increase their electric rates $500 a year--not your statistics from those who don't live in a place like Michigan; $500 a year. And that doesn't incorporate the fact that their clothes will now be more expensive, their groceries will now be more expensive, their school supplies will now be more expensive.

If you haven't noticed, people are hurting around the United States. Adding costs today is absolutely the wrong direction. It will destroy $1,400 in wages for the average family in my district. $1,400. That's a $2,000 swing. People in Michigan, who are already under assault, want to know what they're getting for that $2,000 swing.

Well, they won't get a new nuclear plant. Not one. They will not get the modern electric grid that they need to carry clean electricity. Not going to get that. And they will not get a level playing field with China and India. And--make no mistake--they want to steal the jobs that make up our middle class. They're active and aggressive in doing it. You pass this bill, you won't be able to build anything in the United States of America. Their jobs are going overseas.

They will also see their gas prices rise, on average, 70 cents--70 cents a gallon to families who are already under financial crisis. And who gets their money? Wall Street will.

This bill takes millions, billions out of families' budgets and launders it through Wall Street. The same people who brought you the credit default swap in the housing market are now going to sell you carbon offset swaps. Billions of dollars from average Americans sent to Wall Street. That's no solution.

If you want an economy built on foreign manufacturing and financial engineering, vote ``yes.'' But if you still want to live in a country that makes things, in a country that grows its own food and actually produces its own energy, vote ``no.''

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