Political Quotes

“I am proud to stand in support of HomeStar, which holds much promise in three important areas. First and foremost, it will create jobs. Second, it will lead to greater residential energy efficiency. Third, it has the potential to lead to significant consumer savings. In terms of jobs, Madam Speaker, my home state of Michigan is in a desperate situation. Our current unemployment rate is 14.3 percent and Wayne County has an unemployment rate of 15.7 percent. Between 2001 and 2009, Michigan lost nearly 43 percent of its construction jobs. The bottom line, we need jobs and we need them desperately. This program has the potential to put 168,000 workers back on the job. Not only will this help individual workers, but also small business, which has been a particularly hard hit segment of our economy. We cannot afford not to move forward. According to the HomeStar Coalition, the energy efficiency gains have the potential to equal the removal of 615,000 cars from the road. This is particularly important since the Senate has yet to act on broader climate change legislation. Finally, this program will be of great benefit to homeowners. This could save families as much as $9.4 billion in energy costs over ten years. In addition, it makes homes more valuable. In these economic times, these savings and increased home values cannot be underestimated.”