WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House of Representatives will vote on H.R. 3893, The “Gasoline for America’s Security Act of 2005”- the second energy bill to come to the House floor in an 8 week period. Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior
Democratic Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today made the following remarks, urging lawmakers to vote against the Republican energy bill:

“This is all that Republican leaders in Washington have to offer the country as a vision for the future of American energy?” said Rep. Markey. “Republicans have taken what could have been a chance to articulate a forward-looking vision of economic growth and
innovation in new energy technologies and squandered it on yet another shameless give away to their corporate cronies in the oil industry. This energy bill leaves no millionaire behind.”

“The race to the energy future is on and this Republican energy bill leaves America lagging behind,” said Rep. Markey. “There is a world wide race among nations to embrace and own the energy technology of the future. Right now, the United States is not even at the starting line. We can’t even find our running shoes. If this bill is passed today it will handicap our nation at the starting block, slashing our prospects of becoming a world leader in the future of energy industries. While this House is busying itself with the care and feeding of the industries of the last century, we are falling behind in the race to develop the energy technologies of the 21st Century.”

“Americans know that we are lagging behind in the energy race. Every time we pull up to the pump and watch the cost of necessary foreign oil filling our cars, ringing up to $60.00 for a tank that is barely full we are reminded of the need to get out of this mess.
Consumers pay the price for our government’s submission to Big Oil companies and–consumers lose when we slip behind the pack of nation’s racing to lead the industries of new fuel sources. Right now, we have few choices but to return to the pump, fill our cars
and hope that this spike that has lasted for over two years is going to break soon,” Rep. Markey continued.

“We owe our citizens a new vision for America’s energy future to hang their hopes on. We need to send a message to citizens across the country that we can do better by voting against this bill that simply doesn’t even put us on the race track,” said Rep. Markey.
Representative Markey is urging members to vote against the passage of this bill. The U.S. Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Republican energy bill will add $3.5 billion in additional spending over and above the $13.9 billion in spending and tax cuts
contained in the last Republican energy bill approved in August.