Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Chair, I thank Ranking Member Pallone for yielding the time.

Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to H.R. 6192, a Republican bill that will burden American families with higher costs.

This is not a serious bill, Mr. Chair, but it is emblematic of the least productive Congress in modern times. Rather than focus on improving the lives of our neighbors back home and lowering costs, MAGA extremists have been embroiled in shutdowns and showdowns, a tiresome soap opera, so they bring an unserious bill like this to distract from their dysfunction.

I have heard Members on the other side of the aisle make excuses for not getting anything done. They say that this is a closely divided Congress, but, Mr. Chair, that was true in the last Congress when the Democrats were in control, and we passed a host of important new laws that solved problems and cut costs for the folks we represent back home. We focused on bringing down the cost of living and putting more money back into the pockets of working families by passing the PACT Act that expands VA healthcare and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances, to provide generations of veterans and their survivors with the care and the benefits that they have earned. About 4,000 veterans in my district alone have filed claims.

We passed the American Rescue Plan to help America boost back and build the strongest economy in the world after the pandemic.

We passed a historic infrastructure law that is rebuilding our roads and bridges, delivering clean water, cleaning up pollution, and expanding access to high-speed internet. We passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, and we passed the very important historic Inflation Reduction Act that truly is putting money back into the pockets of families back home. Remember, that is the law that capped insulin at $35 a month. I have 74,000 people in my district with diabetes, and thousands of my neighbors are saving about $440 per month.

More people have affordable health insurance because of the tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. Over 100,000 of my neighbors will save about $520 in premiums this year under the ACA. That is the law that now allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices for the highest drugs. It caps out-of-pocket costs for our older neighbors who rely on Medicare. It is a godsend.

The IRA is also lowering the cost of energy and reducing pollution to unleash a major clean energy manufacturing boom across America. Over 500 new clean energy projects all across the country, creating well over 250,000 new jobs.

The key to delivering all of these cost savings to the American people is putting people over politics. Instead, MAGA extremists keep America stuck in the politics of chaos all the time where nothing gets done, so the GOP defaults to another bill that helps the oil and gas industry. That is what this is all about because energy efficiency standards are popular. Three out of five Americans support making them stronger.

American families want innovative, efficient appliances. Why? Because they save money, and they save energy. Take the refrigerator, for example. Compared to refrigerators of the 1970s, when the first efficiency standard was proposed, refrigerators today are cheaper up front and they do a better job of keeping groceries cold, and they use about 75 percent less energy. Plus, they save American families hundreds of dollars a year on their electricity bills thanks to the innovation spurred by energy efficiency standards.

The Department of Energy and the Biden administration have collaborated with industry to develop strong energy efficiency standards as Congress already has directed. This means huge cost savings for American families, money back into their pockets at a time when they really need it.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to side with the people and their pocketbooks rather than politics or the polluters' best interest. Please vote ``no'' on this Republican bill and let's get back to work.

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