Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-Texas), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released the following statement today, as the Committee began to mark up HR 2454, the Democrats’ cap and trade bill:

“This bill – in its current form, in its draft form, or in any form – may do more harm to our economy than any bill that will come before Congress this year, and perhaps any other bill in my lifetime. That is because the proposal to cap carbon and trade carbon credits hurts American economic growth without providing enough benefits for the expense.

“For one, this policy will increase overhead costs, which would be devastating for business. It will increase energy prices for every single American household by hundreds, maybe thousands, of dollars. In essence, it is an energy tax that will be imposed on every single American consumer. Give me one good reason why this is a good idea, given our current economic circumstances.

“I would be remiss if I did not mention the blatant disregard for regular procedure by the Majority. The behind-closed-door nature of this bill's negotiations, the last minute introduction, and the Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute, unveiled just Monday morning, leads me to believe ‘thoughtful’ and ‘beneficial’ are two words that cannot be used to characterize this bill. If it were indeed thoughtful and beneficial, why hide it?

“Furthermore, based upon the short amount of time I've had to scrub this bill, I'm concerned that we may see negotiated protections for afflicted industries and a failure to adequately protect American consumers. That's the one group we should care to protect the most with federal legislation – the American people.

“Americans want to become more energy independent in order to improve national security. However, our national security is most threatened when we ignore the strength of our economy in exchange for non-measurable and non-attainable mandates like the ones proposed in the Democrats’ cap and trade legislation.

“As a nation, we are walking a very serious and fine economic line. We need thoughtful cost-benefit analysis on every bill before Congress, and that is clearly lacking in this legislation.”

Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D., is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and three of its subcommittees: Health, Energy & Environment, and Oversight & Investigations.  He is also a member of the bipartisan, bicameral Joint Economic Committee.  Prior to becoming a member of Congress in 2002, Congressman Burgess practiced medicine in North Texas for over 25 years.