News : CONGRESSMAN JOHN LINDER REJOINS REPUBLICAN COLLEAGUES ON HOUSE FLOOR FOR ENERGY DEBATE  [8/14/2008]
Washington, D.C.- Today, Representative John Linder (R-GA) re-joined his House Republican colleagues in speaking out against Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s choice to not aggressively pursue America’s energy needs.    “Hard-working American taxpayers in the Seventh Congressional District of Georgia have been calling my office every day since the House adjourned on August 1st asking that Congress continue working on a reasonable energy proposal, and I am proud to play a role in this historic battle on the floor of the House of Representatives.  This is the people’s house, and for the entire month of August it has been gratifying to see so many Americans sitting on the House floor calling on Congress to listen to them and increase our domestic energy production.”       Since taking office, Speaker Pelosi has presided over one of the largest spikes in gasoline prices in our nation’s history.  Since she was sworn in as Speaker of the House, gasoline costs have increased 76 percent.  Linder explained on the House floor that America is flush with energy.  For instance, the United States has enough oil shale in the Rocky Mountain West to produce roughly 2 trillion barrels of oil as opposed to only 235 billion barrels of liquid oil found in the Middle East.   “The Speaker has said she will not allow a vote on the energy bill.  I say we must do the work that the American citizens sent us to here to do.  Congress is where we vote.  We put forth ideas, and we nurture them and grow them, and then we vote on these ideas, because that is our job.  And those votes reflect the will of the American people.  I believe we must pursue a comprehensive energy policy that will sustain us for the rest of this century – a policy that combines our need for traditional fossil fuels with increased nuclear energy generation and our desire to develop efficient and cost-effective alternative energy strategies.  The Speaker obviously does not agree.   But the fact is that regardless of her opinion, or mine, American’s deserve to have their voices heard, and that can only be done in the form of a vote on the House floor. The power to bring Congress together to remedy this disservice is in the Speaker’s hands, and I can only hope that she chooses to use that power.”     
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