HOUSE GOP: “THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW” ABOUT THE DEMS’ “BIGGEST JOB-KILLING BILL”

June 27, 2009 | House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH)

The American people deserve to know what’s in the legislation their representatives in Congress are voting on. That was the fundamental principle behind House Republican Leader John Boehner’s (R-OH) hour-long speech on the floor of the House last night, in which he read portions of a 300-plus page amendment Democrats added in the dark of night to Speaker Pelosi’s already 1,200-page national energy tax legislation. The legislation is going to raise electricity prices, increase gasoline prices, and ship American jobs overseas to countries like China and India. It also will be a bureaucratic nightmare overseen by a confusing web of government agencies that will take and redistribute trillions of dollars from family budgets and workers’ payrolls. Following is just a sampling of the national media’s coverage of Boehner’s unprecedented speech – and the House GOP’s stand against the Democrats’ costly, jobs-killing national energy tax:

• Buffalo News: "Rep. John Boehner, the House Republican leader, used an extraordinary one-hour speech shortly before the final vote to warn of unintended consequences in what he said was a 'defining bill.' He called it a 'bureaucratic nightmare' that would cost jobs, depress real estate prices and put the government into parts of the economy where it now has no role."
• Associated Press: “‘But when you file a 300-page amendment at 3:09 a.m., the American people have a right to know what’s in this bill,’ [Boehner] intoned.”
• Reuters: “House Republican leader John Boehner called the measure ‘the biggest job-killing bill that has ever been on the floor of the House of Representatives.’”
• Washington Post: “And then came the fili-Boehner. House tradition allows the speaker, the majority leader and the minority leader to ignore the usual time limits on floor speeches. So, at the end of four hours of debate, Boehner opened a binder containing the 300-page amendment. ‘Don’t you think the American people expect us to understand what's in this bill before we vote on it?’ Boehner said, to cheers from Republicans. He read numerous passages – highlighting items such as credits for Fannie Mae-financed efficiency measures and plans for grants to study consumer behavior on energy use – and offered critiques.”
• Politico: “‘This is the biggest job killing bill that’s ever been on the floor of the House of Representatives. Right here, this bill,’ said House Minority Leader John Boehner. ‘And I don’t think that’s what the American people want.’ Donning reading glasses, Boehner then delayed the roll call vote by reading page-by-page through a 300-page managers’ amendment Democrats added at around 3 a.m. on Friday. Boehner seemed to relish the hour-long stunt, picking out the bill’s most obscure language and then pontificating about what it might – or might not – mean. Republicans laughed along with him and roared with applause when he was done.”
• San Francisco Chronicle: “Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio [used] his privileges as a leader to spend more than an hour ridiculing page after page of the bill and delaying the final vote until well into the evening.”
• Wall Street Journal: “House Minority Leader John Boehner lambasted the Democratic bill for more than an hour Friday evening before the final vote. He mocked provisions covering everything from energy-efficient loan standards for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the definition of ‘renewable biomass’ to the establishment of ‘green’ banking centers. "Is there anything we're not regulating in this bill?’ he said.”
• Dow Jones: “Republicans warn it could cripple the economy. ‘This is a tax on anyone who drives a car, buys an American-made product, or flips on a light switch,’ said Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. ‘It will drive up energy costs and send millions of American jobs to countries like China and India, and place a real heavy burden on rural Americans.’”
• Fox News: “Filibusters are not allowed in the House. They’re a province of the Senate. But House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) may have figured out a way to get around that prohibition Friday as the House inched closer to voting on a controversial energy and climate change bill. Overnight, House Democrats tacked onto the bill a 300-page amendment. So when Boehner took his time to speak against the package at the end of the debate, the Ohio Republican then decided to peel through major portions of the bill and read them aloud before his House colleagues. ‘Is there anything we aren’t regulating in this bill?’ Boehner asked, leafing through the pages. He wondered if the community group ACORN qualified for certain grants. He asked why an energy and climate bill was ‘trying to solve the problems with Fannie (Mae) and Freddie (Mac).’”