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Home Star Energy Retrofit Act Of 2010

Floor Speech

Date: May 11, 2010
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Energy Natural Resources

* Ms. RICHARDSON. Madam Chair, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5019--Home Star Energy Retrofit Act of 2010. I want to thank my colleague Representative WELCH for bringing this important bill to the floor.

* In our current economic crisis we need to seize on opportunities to create jobs, and with our need to find the energy to power our country, we need to find every kilowatt of savings we can. This bill will help accomplish both of those goals.

* Home Star is a short-term program to create jobs, save energy, and lower families' energy bills. Home Star will restart the assembly lines at factories that manufacture energy efficiency technologies and will put construction workers back on the job installing these improvements in the homes of millions of American families.

* There are huge energy savings available through basic retrofits, which will save people money and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. By encouraging people to help themselves through the installation of specific energy-saving technologies, including insulation, duct sealing, windows and doors, air sealing, and water heaters, we will all benefit.

* Home Star is expected to allow 3 million families to retrofit their homes to be more energy efficient. Consumers are predicted to save $9.2 billion on their energy bills over the next 10 years as a result of Home Star's energy efficiency investments. And Home Star will create 168,000 new jobs here in the United States. Construction jobs cannot be outsourced, and more than 90 percent of energy efficiency technologies are manufactured here in America.

* We also must do everything we can to continue to encourage the development of an energy efficiency industry in this country. Foreign countries are threatening to take our market share in manufacturing energy efficient technologies and we cannot let this huge market go offshore. This bill will help create a larger market for these products and solidify our position as a market leader.

* This bill is a win-win-win, and I urge all of my colleagues to support it.


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