WASHINGTON – Every returning member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee today signed a letter to Speaker-elect John Boehner and Majority Leader-elect Eric Cantor vigorously opposing the jurisdiction grab by Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Doc Hastings, R-Wash. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., who is on leave from the committee, also signed the letter.
Text of the letter is below.
Dear Speaker-elect Boehner and Majority Leader-elect Cantor:
We write with humbled enthusiasm as we anticipate our return to the majority and recognize the American people who have trusted us with a second chance. We commend you for your leadership and vision. We thank you for the trust and cooperation you showed us as we challenged perilous Democrat policies like cap and trade and ObamaCare and re-envisioned a Republican majority grounded in transparency, responsibility, and trust.
While our support for your leadership is without caveat, our support for a rumored restructuring of Committee jurisdiction is not.
As Committee Members, and veterans of many partisan battles, we have wide experience and deep knowledge in matters that fall under our historic and current Rule X(f) jurisdiction. Exhibiting unparalleled tenacity and teamwork, our 23 Members pushed the majority through a grueling 17-day ObamaCare markup during which 350 amendments were offered and 54 were debated. Before that, we demanded four long days of markup, challenging the Democrats and their theories of global warming and the American economy. Deals were offered and soundly rejected as the possibility of 300 amendments and the actual debate on 47 of them exposed the failings of the cap and trade scheme. Though the cap and trade bill barely passed the House, it went nowhere in the Senate, largely in part to the hard work of our Committee.
Our tactical, competent opposition sent resounding messages to the American people – and they sent a resounding message back. They like what we’ve done to prevent the expansion of government and to prevent the loss of additional jobs. They like what we’ve done to stand up to Nancy Pelosi’s liberal agenda. They acknowledge our work by handing us a second chance, and as we go about our Committee business we will make sure that second chance is not wasted.
With respect, the worst possible way to answer the American people’s cry for transparency and responsibility would be to cut an inside-Washington deal that ferrets jurisdiction away from committees that have proven their moxie and sends it to committees that haven’t experienced a true partisan fight in the past two years. Transferring historic Rule X jurisdiction away from the Committee that knows it and does it best is irresponsible and breaks trust with the people who gave us a second chance earlier this month. We will vote against a rules package that includes any diminution in our Committee’s jurisdiction.
We look forward to a 112th Congress grounded in Republican ideals as we work towards a common goal.
Sincerely,
Joe Barton, R-Texas
Ralph Hall, R-Texas
Fred Upton, R-Mich.
Cliff Stearns, R-Fla.
Ed Whitfield, R-Ky.
John Shimkus, R-Ill.
Joseph Pitts, R-Pa.
Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif.
Lee Terry, R-Neb.
Mike Rogers, R-Mich.
Sue Myrick, R-N.C.
John Sullivan, R-Okla.
Tim Murphy, R-Pa.
Michael Burgess, R-Texas
Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.
Phil Gingrey, R-Ga.
Steve Scalise, R-La.
Bob Latta, R-Ohio
Greg Walden, R-Ore., chairman, House Majority Transition Committee
Click here for a link to the letter.
