Washington, D.C. – Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), a member of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Energy and Power, today introduced an amendment to an annual spending bill that would ensure the federal government cannot mandate the type of light bulbs Americans choose to buy for their homes.

The amendment was included in the Fiscal Year 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, H.R. 4923, which will be voted on later today. Burgess’ amendment has been accepted for the past three years by voice vote and has been included in the annual appropriations legislation signed by President Obama each year since its first inclusion in 2010.

“With the extreme expansion of federal powers undertaken by the Obama administration and congressional Democrats, Americans have realized just how far the Constitution’s commerce clause has been manipulated from its original intent,” Burgess said. “The light bulb mandate is the perfect example of this. The founding fathers never intended the commerce clause to be used to allow the federal government to regulate and pass mandates on consumer products that do not pose a threat to either human health or safety.”

The Department of Energy included language in the 2007 Energy Independence Security Act that would take away consumer choice as it pertains to which light bulbs consumers may buy. This amendment would ban the federal government from doing this.

“The bottom line is that the federal government has no business taking away the freedom of Americans to choose what light bulbs they purchase for their own homes,” Burgess said.

The text of this amendment may be found here.

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