Cliff Stearns: “Let me first of all say, when you are quoting conservatives, the former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee…”

“Let me first of all say, when you are quoting conservatives, the former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, Ranking Member Joe Barton, is against this bill. So when you talk about who is the spokesman in the House, Joe Barton on Energy and Commerce is the spokesman. You serve on Energy and Commerce, so you obviously would respect his opinion. Also, I would say to my colleague, we are not a subcommittee of the Senate. We are an independent body. So as much as I respect your voicing accommodation to the Senate frequently here, I submit that the House of Representatives is a totally different body and represents closer to the people, the people who go to Lowe's, the people who go to the hardware stores, and the people who don't want to have over-regulation and are trying to create jobs in this economy. You keep mentioning how the Senate overwhelmingly supports this bill. I would say rhetorically to you: Did you support the tax cuts last night? Did you support the tax cut extension? A lot of people on the majority did not; yet in the Senate, it was overwhelmingly supported.”