[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 9, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H6314]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           REPUBLICANS WANT ENERGY INDEPENDENCE FOR AMERICANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, my colleague from Indiana made some very, 
very eloquent and compelling remarks about the status of our economy, 
and my colleague from West Virginia gave valuable information on energy 
and called attention to some important issues.
  My distinguished colleague from Florida, whom I like and admire very 
much, says the energy bill will create jobs, but he's wrong. It will 
kill jobs. He never answered his own question: Why don't we produce 
those mirrors in the United States? Because our taxes are high and 
regulations drive jobs overseas.
  America, if the Democrats pass this cap-and-tax bill, get ready to 
pay more for electricity, a lot more. This cap-and-tax scheme, better 
known as a national energy tax, if it becomes law, will cost $846 
billion. That's according to the Congressional Budget Office's latest 
estimate. The CBO is a nonpartisan organization.
  Who's going to bear the brunt of this new national energy tax? Anyone 
who turns the lights on, but it's also going to be especially harmful 
for many of my constituents and all others who work in manufacturing.
  As companies adjust to this new energy tax, many will be forced to 
ship jobs and the accompanying greenhouse emissions overseas where 
energy costs will be much lower. Many employers will face the tough 
choice of outsourcing or going out of business altogether. This 
destructive energy policy will kill millions of American jobs and 
permanently send them overseas, and I and many others cannot support 
this.
  I want to quote from a report that came out from the Ways and Means 
Ranking Member Dave Camp, who has based his comments on this CBO report 
that's come out. He says that, ``The facts are plain and clear: 
Democrats in Congress are breaking the President's pledge not to raise 
taxes on working families. The President has repeatedly stated married 
couples earning less than $250,000 a year would not face higher taxes, 
but this legislation imposes an energy tax on every American and 
provides no help to families making more than $42,000 or individuals 
making as little as $23,000. Increasing Americans' fuel and utility 
bills in this recession is not only bad policy, but it completely 
ignores the hardships millions of Americans are already facing. This is 
dangerous legislation in desperate need of closer review.''
  Republicans want energy independence for Americans, and we can have 
it but not under this cap-and-tax bill.

                              {time}  1115

  Madam Chairman, I would like to point out one other issue that is 
before the Congress recently, and that is money for the IMF, the 
International Monetary Fund, in the supplemental bill. What the 
Democrats want to do is cut $5 billion from our troops in order to fund 
the IMF. And because any IMF member country may apply for these loans, 
Iran, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, and Burma are all eligible. Therefore, state 
sponsors of terrorism can receive American taxpayer money under the 
Democrats' proposal.
  The New York Times reported on May 27 that Hezbollah is in talks with 
the IMF about continuing loans to Lebanon should they win the election. 
Therefore, a terrorist organization could receive American taxpayer 
dollars under the Democrats' proposal.
  To loan the IMF $108 billion, the U.S. will have to borrow the money 
from other countries, like China. A loan of this size to the IMF will 
put America further into debt, a cost that will be paid by our 
grandchildren and children, a point so well-pointed out by my colleague 
from Indiana. Also, according to the Center for Economic and Policy 
Research, American taxpayers will actually lose money by loaning it to 
the IMF. While countries like China, Russia, Brazil, and India have 
announced they will not participate in loans, the Democrats are asking 
Americans to support this.
  Finally, the American taxpayers are sick of bailouts in their own 
country. How can Democrats rationalize a global bailout?

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