“I look forward to their energy, vitality and expertise as we serve side by side on the Energy and Commerce Committee in the 112th Congress.”

Washington, DC: U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Ennis/Arlington), Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement on Thursday morning concerning the role of incoming members of Congress on the Energy and Commerce Committee:

“The American people sent Washington a message on November 2 – No more business as usual.

“The freshman class spent months knocking on doors, holding town halls and going to forums. They may be new to Washington, but they know who they are and why they’re here, and they’re ready to speak for the people who sent them.

“I want them to be able to serve their constituents, so I want freshmen to serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee.

“If I’m chairman for a second term, we’re going to spend 2011 dragging the Obama administration to the Hill to explain what on earth it is doing in areas such as health care and energy. Nothing has gone quite so awry as the massive, government-run Obama health program, and it is plain that the individual mandate, the employee mandate, the abortion funding, the tangle of outsider/insider councils like the comparative effectiveness board and the effective nationalization of health care under grants of authority to the Department of Health and Human Services — all that has to go.

“In short, the Energy and Commerce Committee will be the front lines in the battle to repeal ObamaCare, and stop job-killing environmental regulations, and provide an environment in which businesses, not government, create jobs. The new members – and the people they represent – deserve a seat at the table.

“We allowed freshmen to serve on Energy and Commerce after Republicans gained the majority in 1995 and I will ask Speaker Boehner and the Republican leadership team to give freshmen a voice on the committee next year.

“We’ll need some help on my committee making the changes America has asked for and I look forward to the energy, vitality and expertise the freshmen bring as we serve side-by-side on Energy and Commerce in the 112th Congress.”