Day 6 Select Quotes

I didn't post anything yesterday (about the #dontgo movement and the Republican House protest) in large part because I had other things to post on plus I got busy with family things. Here are some select quotes from today's floor action and beyond. I'm starting with quotes from the RPC Blog.

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter: "You deserve better than you are getting." "I have expressed my disgust at the president for attending the Communist Chinese Olympics and refusing to call the Congress back." "The audacity of your public servants to go on a 5 week paid vacation, while there are real problems to be addressed, to go on a book tour?"

I have to jump in here to partially disagree with Rep. McCotter. President Bush has realized the one thing that Rep. McCotter doesn't - even if the president called Congress back in to session he has NO CONTROL over what is done during the special session. As long as the current Democratic Leadership is in place, we will not get a real debate and an up or down vote on anything other than legislation that Ms. Pelosi wants. He's right about the China Olympics, but that is another post for another day.

Rep. Bill Shuster: "Our colleagues on the other side say drilling isn't the answer. They're partly right, but drilling is part of the puzzle. It is a piece of the solution."

Rep. Jeff Miller: "We're not saying drilling is the only answer. We realize our reliance on foreign oil is dangerous. If Iran closed the Straits of Hormos the price of gas would go up $3 a gallon over night. We know we have colleagues on the other side of the aisle who want to be here today who want to vote, but they are being held back by their Speaker who controls their committee assignments, their room assignments. "

Emphasis mine. As is conservation AND wind AND solar AND nuclear AND.....which is exactly what the Republicans have proposed in the American Energy Act. Now over to the Minority Leaders blog. This is a great quote from yesterday's debate.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA): “When Americans face a crisis, they don’t take a five-week vacation; they go to work and find solutions. That is what Congress needs to do. Throughout our nation’s history we’ve had many challenges and many crises, and each one we looked in the eye and dealt with here in the U.S. House of Representatives. This summer a lot of people in Louisiana and around the nation are cancelling their vacations because the price of gas is too high. However, House Speaker Pelosi thinks it is more important to take a five-week vacation rather than dealing with this national energy crisis.

“Last night I held a Town Hall meeting in Mandeville Louisiana and everyone agreed that Congress should be addressing the nation’s energy crisis rather than taking a vacation. We have solutions and they are all on the table. The liberal leadership needs to come back to Washington so we can debate these solutions to our nation’s energy crisis and have a vote in the House. The time for Congress to act is now.”

Lastly, I want to take you to an unexpected place....Bob Barr has weighed in on the issue and surprise he is saying the same thing that the rest of the American people are saying.

My reaction to that is the same as my reaction to President Bush's repeal of the 1991 executive order that his father signed, that made it even more difficult than pre-existing legislation to engage in offshore drilling. I commend the president. Where has he been for seven and a half years?

I have to agree with Mr. Barr (ok I am a closet Bob Barr fan what can I say) that this should have come long ago, the only reason I can see why it has not is because until this year we were not seeing $4.00 a gallon gas.

It is time to face facts. The Speaker and the rest of the Democrats are ignoring the will of the people. The people want an open debate on a COMPREHENSIVE energy plan (one that does not include conservation ONLY or drilling ONLY) and they are demanding it from their Representatives. Come on Madame Speaker...what are you afraid of? Give us an up or down vote!