Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague and friend on the Ways and Means Committee, Mrs. Black, for yielding time. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 89, a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to the United States economy. At a time when 80 percent of domestic energy consumption comes from natural gas, from oil, from coal, it is, clearly, counterproductive to make these necessary resources more expensive by imposing an indirect tax on these fuels. A carbon tax means higher utility bills for families, more expensive goods and services for consumers, decreased economic activity, and it would really hurt job creation. We already heard about the dismal numbers last week that were released--38,000 non-farm-related jobs. Let me just be clear. When we were in the recession, one of the prime drivers economically that took us out of the recession was the shale revolution--a real energy renaissance in this country. Mr. Speaker, this type of tax is not just a tax on carbon--it is a tax on working families; it is a tax on the American economy; it is a tax on American competitiveness; it is a tax on our energy security. It strikes right at the foundation of our national security. It is the wrong thing to do. It is a regressive tax. It hurts the people who are most dependent on fixed incomes--seniors. It hurts them most. Why would we even consider doing this? There are better ways to set up taxation for this country that meet our needs.…”