Kathy Castor: “I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.J. Res. 75, a bill…”

“I thank the gentleman from New Jersey for yielding the time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.J. Res. 75, a bill to force small business owners to use more energy and spend more money. Here we are at the end of March, and Republicans have not brought one bill to the floor to lower costs and tackle the cost of living for our neighbors back home. Instead, Republicans in Congress have stood idly by while American families and small business owners are left to twist in the wind, making life harder for people back home, more expensive, more difficult to receive the Social Security they rely on, adding taxes through tariffs. It is just unconscionable because what people really want is for us to work together on solutions, and Republicans in Congress are missing in action. People want answers, but Republicans won't have townhalls. Some of them will not even answer the phone. I also had a townhall back in St. Petersburg, Florida, last week when I was home, and people want answers. They want to know what you are doing to tackle the cost of living. Then, you come up here to the House of Representatives, and Republicans are making it more expensive because they don't want you to have an energy-efficient appliance. This isn't something that happens overnight. This is something that manufacturers and consumer advocates worked on for years. The previous speaker asked when the Department of Energy got into energy efficiency.…”