Providing for Congressional Disapproval of the Rule Submitted By the Department of Energy Relating to ``Energy Conservation Program: Energy Conservation Standards for Consumer Gas-Fired Instantaneous Water Heaters''

Floor Speech

Date: Feb. 27, 2025
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. JACK. Madam Speaker, I commend the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Palmer) for his leadership on this resolution, and I rise today in strong support of H.J. Res. 20.

Madam Speaker, H.J. Res. 20 is a resolution authorized by the Congressional Review Act that will enable our Congress to repeal a job- killing regulation that would ban and eliminate noncondensing tankless water heaters, an American product made by blue-collar American workers in the heart of my congressional district in Georgia.

This regulation was imposed on December 26, 2024, in the midnight hour of the Biden administration and the day after Christmas, putting in peril the livelihoods of hundreds of my constituents during the holiday season.

Madam Speaker, I should also note that the timing of this regulation was 7 weeks after Americans overwhelmingly rejected the Biden-Harris regulatory regime.

To my colleagues who support the free market, this job-killing regulation eliminates consumer choice by effectively enabling nameless and faceless bureaucrats to choose which companies may operate and which companies may not operate in the marketplace for household appliances.

Ultimately, under this regulation, the American consumer would suffer, and hundreds of hardworking Georgians in my congressional district would be without a job. That is why I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this critical legislation.

To put everything that we have heard today into perspective, noncondensing tankless water heaters account for 40 percent of our country's tankless water heater market. A majority of those water heaters are manufactured in my congressional district, in the heart of Georgia, by an incredible company called Rinnai America Corporation.

These appliances are the most advanced and efficient noncondensing tankless water heaters on the market. Perhaps most importantly, which I would encourage the other side to research, Rinnai America is the only company that builds noncondensing tankless water heaters on American soil.

Rinnai America is headquartered in my hometown of Peachtree City, Georgia, and it opened a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility 3 years ago in Griffin, Georgia, two cities I proudly represent in this Congress.

Over 500 of my constituents are working to manufacture and market these water heaters the Biden administration attempted to outlaw. The job-killing regulation we seek to repeal today is another painful example of the radical left's never-ending war on hydrocarbons and American energy production.

The sinister purpose of this regulation was to try to single out and eliminate an American manufacturer of water heaters to benefit their competitors.

Madam Speaker, our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have spent an enormous amount of time in the past few weeks arguing that my Democratic colleagues are the party of blue-collar American workers. In the spirit of bipartisanship, I encourage my Democratic colleagues to join me in support of this resolution to protect and champion hundreds of blue-collar American jobs in the heart of our country.

To my Republican colleagues, let's join together as a team and end this war on American energy production now.

As the distinguished gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Palmer) noted, President Trump's White House has explicitly endorsed this resolution. I urge all of my Republican colleagues to join me and vote for this critical legislation to empower consumer choice, champion American manufacturing, and save blue-collar jobs in the heart of our country.

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