Walberg OP-ED in Jackson Citizen Patriot: Congress Needs to Make 'No Excuses' on Policy

Op-Ed

Right now, most Michigan families are giving up nights eating out at restaurants or family vacations to cover the rising cost of gasoline. Working families are paying twice as much to commute and pick up their kids from school and sports. If Congress continues to take no action, families soon will be giving up much more than they are now.

Just last weekend, AAA announced that the nationwide average gas price reached $4 per gallon, and it has been much higher in Michigan for weeks. High gas prices affect families, truckers, farmers, small business owners, emergency services and numerous others in Jackson County.

Despite fuel costs at levels previously only seen in Europe, leadership in this Congress refuses to increase American energy production. Instead, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and leading House Democrats would rather increase taxes on domestic energy production and increase our reliance on OPEC.

Recently there has been talk in the House of sending lawyers to sue countries such as Venezuela and Saudi Arabia for lower gas prices. But even the best trial lawyers cannot litigate America to lower gas prices.

Our country has vast and large supplies of energy, but unfortunately tapping into American energy sources has become controversial and mired in politics. And while political games are played in Washington, D.C., Americans keep paying more at the pump.

Last week I introduced a discharge petition to force a vote on a bill to increase U.S. energy production and invest in alternative sources of energy. The No More Excuses Energy Act, H.R. 3089, would increase the supply of energy produced in America.

This bill would immediately open up ANWR in Alaska for environmentally sensitive oil exploration. According to recent estimates, today America would receive one million barrels of oil from ANWR if President Clinton had not blocked exploration in 1996.

Outer-continental shelf exploration, new refineries, wind, natural gas and new nuclear power plants also are covered in this legislation. This bill would return much of our energy production back to the United States and create good paying American jobs, instead of sending hundreds of billions of dollars overseas to prop up countries like Venezuela that are opposed to American ideals.

Since Speaker Pelosi refuses to bring this bill to the House floor, a discharge petition is the only way to hold a debate on this legislation. House rules state that a discharge petition must have 218 signatures (a simple majority) to bring a bill to the floor for a vote, and I am working hard to bring Democrats and Republicans together in support of this bill.

While many in Congress may gloss over the current energy crisis in America, the majority of Americans and Michiganders cannot. The American people believe in expanding our American energy supply and developing alternatives to break our dependence on foreign oil.

Congress needs to pass this important bill to bring down the price at the pump, encourage American energy production and end our country's reliance on Middle Eastern oil.

U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, represents the 7th Congressional District, which includes Jackson County

Source