[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 117 (Wednesday, July 16, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H6582]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE TIME FOR ACTION IS NOW

  (Mrs. BLACKBURN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, it is hot in Tennessee this summer, and 
in my district, a lot of us are moving the thermostat up, the house is 
a little bit warmer, we're sitting on the front porch, and we're asking 
ourselves a question: Are we better off or worse off today than we were 
in the summer of 2006? I will tell you what my constituents are saying: 
They were better off in 2006, and they're asking what has happened 
since that time.
  Well, the Democrats took control of both chambers of this House. And 
you know what? They are not doing one thing to turn the heat down on 
the American consumer. As long as the energy crisis is not addressed, 
the price of oil is going to affect everything else: transportation, 
food, home cooling, home heating this fall. TVA, which provides 
electricity for most Tennesseans as well as six other States and over 
8.8 million people, recently had to increase its wholesale fuel cost. 
Of course, the price gets passed on to the consumer and the consumer 
pays the bill.
  We have legislation that would address this issue, Mr. Speaker. It is 
time for action.

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