Rep. Barton vows to continue Bulb Battle

Statement

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Arlington/Ennis) released the following statement after the BULB Act failed to pass the House. The bill is designed to repeal the upcoming de facto ban on traditional incandescent light bulbs. The bill received the support of a majority of House members, but it was brought up under suspension, meaning it needed a two-thirds majority to pass. The final tally was 233 to 193 with one present vote.

"It's a victory in the sense that we got a majority vote, but we didn't get over the procedural hurdle set up today.

But this vote clearly shows which party is for bigger federal government involvement in people's daily lives and which is for consumer choice. Why in the world should the federal government tell people what kind of lights they can buy for their homes?

The issue is too important to let it go away. If we don't repeal this de facto ban before January, the power will be cut to the traditional, affordable, reliable incandescent light bulb and Americans will have to fork over at minimum five times more to buy bulbs for their homes.

It is the perfect symbol of government over regulation and that is why we will continue to look for avenues to bring this bill up and ultimately repeal the de facto ban on traditional light bulbs."

Source