HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, Sep 17 - Promising that “we’re not going away,” House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today put the Democrats in charge of Congress on notice that the House GOP will not stop fighting until a comprehensive energy reform bill is signed into law.  Boehner’s speech comes a day after House Democrats rejected a bipartisan plan – authored by Reps. John Peterson (R-PA) and Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) – to take the first critical steps toward lower energy costs.  Democrats instead passed yet another sham “no energy” bill, continuing Speaker’s Pelosi’s stated purpose of attempting to give vulnerable Democrats political cover by encouraging them to tell their constituents they will vote for real energy reform without actually doing so.

Boehner’s remarks, with video, follow:

Click HERE for Full Video

“Let me thank my colleague for yielding, and I rise to support the bill that we’re working on to extend SSI benefits to a really vulnerable group.  But I also rise to express my disappointment in the opportunity that we had last night to pass a bipartisan energy bill that would in fact do ‘all of the above.’  I’m concerned that the bill that did passed last night will do none of the above in terms of moving us toward more energy security.  And frankly I don’t think the bill that passed last night has any chance of moving in the United States Senate.  And I do believe that if we were to pass the bipartisan Abercrombie-Peterson bill that it was very likely the Senate could take the bill up and move it quickly.  A bill that would create a million new jobs, would lower gas prices, lower energy prices, but that didn’t happen.

“But I rise today to say we’re not going away.  There’s an awful lot of talk moving around here that later on this week we may have to take up a stimulus bill.  A lot of well-intentioned, well-meaning money – taxpayer money that we’d be sending around the country.  I can’t think of any better stimulus bill than to pass a bipartisan energy bill that would in fact create a million new jobs, would in fact lower gas prices, lower energy prices, help our manufacturers all around the country, and a bill that the American people desperately want.  And while gas prices came down temporarily, we saw them shoot up in the midst of the hurricane because there is no additional supply.  There’s no relief valve, and if anybody sneezes around the world in the energy market, what happens?  Our gas prices go up.  And while oil prices are coming down, in the short-term, we all know how vulnerable we are.

“And so taking the real honest step toward preserving America’s energy security I think is critically necessary.  And if we really want to help the American people, help create jobs in our country, why not pass a bipartisan bill that will in fact do that?  I yield back.”

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