WASHINGTON, June 26 DC-Blunt-Energy-Vote
WASHINGTON, June 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) issued the following statement today after Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee chose to dissolve the markup of the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill -- while in progress -- rather than be forced to vote on an amendment to unlock American energy resources for the benefit of the American people:
"Ducking votes on legislation to increase access to American energy and lower the price at the pump is generally an easy proposition for Democrats in the House: the speaker simply doesn't allow those bills to be considered on the floor, so very few votes on it are ever called or recorded.
"In the Appropriations Committee, however, those same rules don't apply. And today, faced with the prospect of being forced to cast a pro-energy vote in committee, senior Democrats decided their best course of action was to simply walk out of the room -- in the middle of a markup.
"Unfortunately, the millions of Americans struggling with skyrocketing energy costs don't have the option of walking away from their electricity bills -- and they don't have the option to walk away from their vehicles. These Americans need honest talk about our current energy crisis -- and genuine, supply-based solutions to help fix it. Regrettably, they'll see very little of that on the floor today, as Democrats bring forth a discredited slate of energy bills before ducking out the backdoor for the July 4th recess."
NOTE: On a party-line vote of 35-27, the Appropriations Committee ended proceedings on the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill this afternoon after an attempt was made by Ranking Member Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) and Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) to call a vote on lifting the 27-year ban on responsible deep-sea energy exploration.
Yesterday, Peterson added language to the Energy and Water appropriations bill calling on the Energy Department to conduct an assessment of available energy resources -- oil, gas, coal, capacity for wind, etc. -- on the millions of acres the agency currently controls.
SOURCE House Republican Whip Roy Blunt
