[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 15925]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             CAP-AND-TRADE

  (Mr. FLEMING asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. FLEMING. Madam Speaker, word has it that the infamous cap-and-
trade, or cap-and-tax, bill will be up for a vote this week.
  Cap-and-trade, or what has been more appropriately named cap-and-tax, 
would create $640 billion in new taxes on American businesses and raise 
electric bills by $3,100 per household per year on average. The revenue 
from the new tax will be used to pay for various social programs this 
administration plans to enact such as the government takeover of our 
health care.
  Simply put, cap-and-tax will cap our growth and trade our jobs. 
Companies looking to invest in our economy will simply move overseas to 
escape this enormous tax increase.
  If you need a tangible example of why this doesn't work, look at 
Spain, which has been on this plan for 10 years. The result: utility 
prices have skyrocketed, and the unemployment rate today is 17\1/2\ 
percent. This is our view of the future.
  Experts tell us that cap-and-tax will do nothing to cap greenhouse 
gases, but it will put the United States at a global economic 
disadvantage because China and India have no reason to enact or follow 
this policy. We will put Americans out of work but create jobs for 
developing countries.
  We need a smart energy policy that will put Americans to work, not 
further squeeze the pocketbooks of this country's families.

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