Political Quotes

“The chairman spoke to the cost of these bulbs and how incredibly expensive they are; and, indeed, our constituents have talked about that. And to my colleagues who are going to try to support this standard and this de facto ban on the incandescent light bulb, I would simply say two wrongs do not make a right. I know you heard that as you grew up, and I would ask you to think about that in this Chamber today. Putting this ban, putting these higher efficiency standards in place, many people thought it was the right decision. I didn't think it was the right decision. I voted against it in committee. I voted against all of this on the floor. But I would ask you just to remember the American people are telling us this doesn't work. They don't like the restrictions that are there in the marketplace. They don't like the fact that the bulbs cost too much money. And I would also remind my colleagues that all of the CFLs, the compact fluorescent light bulbs, they are made in China. They are not made here. The CFLs don't work as well. It requires more bulbs to get the same amount of light in a given area. These things have proven to be very vulnerable to power surges. We hear that from our constituents in the rural areas. In essence, Madam Speaker, they don't save any energy, and we know that they are also dangerous because they are filled with mercury. I know that Congressman Burgess, who has also worked on this with Chairman Barton and me, is going to speak to that.…”