Poznan, Poland, Dec 10 -

Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Menomonee Falls) is an official U.S. observer to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, where member countries are negotiating an international agreement to cap greenhouse gas emissions.  From Poland, Congressman Sensenbrenner said:

“While Democratic leaders are negotiating to bail out the Big Three, I am in Poland observing negotiations that threaten to undermine the entire United States economy, including automakers.  Over a decade ago, I led a delegation to Kyoto, Japan, where the international community agreed to a fatally flawed treaty.  Had the U.S. ratified the treaty, the Kyoto Protocol would have mandated emissions cuts from the U.S. without requiring any commitment at all from the majority of countries in the world, including some of the largest emitters, like China, India, and Brazil.

“In declining to send a representative to the UN conference, President-elect Obama said:

‘While I won’t be President at the time of your meeting and while the United States has only one President at a time, I’ve asked Members of Congress who are attending the conference as observers to report back to me on what they learn there.’

“As the only Member of Congress in Poland, the burden is on me to discuss U.S. interests and to help prevent the international community from reaching a post-Kyoto agreement that is equally destined to fail.  An agreement that does not include all of the world’s countries cannot prevent global warming and will unfairly burden the United States.

“Discussions at the UN conference largely focus on developing new international limits on greenhouse gas emissions that will be implemented by a new Cap and Trade scheme.  I prefer to call this scheme ‘Cap and Tax’ because its effect will be a tax on U.S. businesses and consumers for carbon emissions.  This new tax will have disastrous results on American manufacturers who are already struggling in the current recession and on consumers who will see the tax added to everything they buy.  We have already seen companies transfer production to foreign countries.  The uneven application of a Cap and Tax system will outsource more jobs and increase energy costs for American consumers.

“Our country was built on ideas and hard work.  If I were in Washington, I would be voting against the Democratic bailout.  Government handouts won’t save a company with a bad business plan.  In Poland, I can help save American jobs by preventing the mistakes that were made under Kyoto.”

Congressman Sensenbrenner’s schedule in Poland to date is attached below:

Monday December 8^th

U.S. Press Conference

Meeting with U.S. Ambassador Harlan Watson

Sensenbrenner Press Conference

Post Conference Briefing

Tuesday December 9^th

Meeting with U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Meeting with Business and Environmental NGOs

Meeting with Chinese Delegation

Meeting with Canadian Delegation

Interview with German Media

Interview with Polish Media

Meeting with Nuclear Energy Institute

Meeting with Indian Ambassador

Meeting with U.S. Ambassador Victor Ashe

Wednesday, December 10^th

Meeting with EU Parliamentarians

Meeting with Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, Paula J. Dobriansky

Meeting with AFL CIO officials

Reception with U.S. Ambassador Ashe

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