Ahead of President Obama’s Tuesday speech outlining the Administration’s strategy to create jobs, Rep. Peter Welch on Monday reiterated his call for an immediate, job-creating energy efficiency retrofit program.

“Investing in energy efficiency retrofits is a sure-fire way to create jobs,” said Welch, a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. “As President Obama considers how best to spur our nation’s economy, he should consider the immediate benefits of a national efficiency retrofit program: hundreds of thousands of jobs that cannot be outsourced, millions of homes using less energy and billions saved by homeowners on their utility bills.”

Welch has led the charge on Capitol Hill for a nationwide retrofit program. His Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) program was incorporated into the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454), which passed the House this summer. REEP would provide cash incentives to homeowners and business owners to retrofit the nation’s aging home and building stock.

In an October memo to White House officials and House leadership, Welch outlined the job-creating potential of investing in efficiency retrofits. Not only would it immediately create jobs and save homeowners money, Welch wrote, “This federal investment will lay the foundation for a long-term, domestic home performance industry providing good jobs that cannot be outsourced.”

Last month, Welch wrote a letter to President Obama signed by 44 House members outlining a strategy to create 600,000 to 850,000 jobs. Referred to by some as ‘Cash for Caulkers’ or ‘Homestar,’ this program would seek to retrofit 5 million homes and could save homeowners $3 billion a year in energy bills.

Click here to watch Welch advocate for a national energy efficiency jobs program on the floor of the House last week.