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Economic Stimulus Package Remarks

Rep. George Miller Remarks on Economic Stimulus Package

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, delivered the following statement today as the House considered an economic stimulus package to bolster the nation’s economy.

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Madam Speaker, because our country urgently needs to create new jobs, provide vital relief for struggling families, and get our economy moving forward again, I rise in strong support of this economic stimulus bill, H.R. 7110.

Our economy needs two things, and we need them right now.

First, we must take steps to help restore confidence in the credit markets and the financial sector as a whole, because every American is affected by this worsening financial crisis and every American will be hurt if it gets worse.

Remember, we’re not just talking about propping up the stock market, even though the decline in the stock market clearly hurts tens of millions of Americans with pension funds, and retirement accounts. What we are attempting to do is revive the credit markets so that the economy can grow again, so that Americans can borrow at reasonable rates to make payroll at small businesses, invest in new equipment, borrow for college, take out a mortgage, start a new business, or buy a new car.

Credit is what fuels our economy and creates jobs and good incomes. The crisis that is allegedly just a Wall Street problem is a problem on every street in every small town and big city in our country. Whether people like to admit it or not, Wall Street and Main Street are joined at the hip. And we all share an interest in stepping up to the plate to help restore confidence in the credit markets in a manner that offers the greatest possible protections to the taxpayer and consumers and homeowners. That is what I am trying to help accomplish and I urge my colleagues to join together to do the same.

So, that is one thing we must do to help the economy now.

Secondly, to help the ailing economy we also must invest directly in new infrastructure – roads, bridges, mass transit, clean water, new schools – to get Americans working again.

More than 600,000 American workers have lost their jobs so far this year. The number of unemployed Americans is now at its highest level since 1992. Our nation has now faced 8 straight months of consecutive job losses. 1.6 million workers are looking for jobs. And last week, jobless claims rose to a seven-year high.

The economic stimulus package before us today will help to get our economy back on the road to recovery. It will yield immediate results for all Americans.

Our bill will help to get more Americans back to work by investing in infrastructure projects that can quickly generate good-paying jobs.

Our bill provides a long-overdue investment of $3 billion to repair crumbling schools across this country -- making classrooms safer, healthier, more modern and energy efficient places for children to learn -- while injecting demand into the construction industry.

Our bill provides much-needed support for millions of Americans who are out of work by extending unemployment benefits to help them cover their housing payments, grocery bill, and energy costs.

And our bill invests $500 million in job training programs to help these workers find and prepare for good jobs in the fast changing economy.

Look, we all know that the disastrous wild-west, go-go economic policies of the eight years of the Bush Administration have made our economy less stable, less fair for working Americans, and less resilient in the face of crisis. It has been a disaster for our country.

We have an obligation to take the economy in a new direction and we have an opportunity to start to do that with this stimulus bill.

Our stimulus package represents the right kind of economic policy – literally building a stronger country, investing in our children, investing in workers, and coming to the aid of struggling families.

This is an important step toward strengthening the nation’s middle class and strengthening the overall economy and I urge all my colleagues to support it.

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Energy bill lowers gas prices, creates new jobs

Rep. George Miller's statement on the Comprehensive Energy Plan (HR 6899)

I strongly support this comprehensive, a forward-looking bill that will provide relief at the pump, create good jobs in America, and finally put our nation on a path toward a clean and more independent energy future.

Surely that is something all Americans support.

Americans understand the problem: Our nation is addicted to oil, we’re paying record prices to heat and cool their homes and drive their cars and trucks, and global warming is a real, serious and growing problem. Meanwhile, oil companies are making more money than ever before.

Democrats made energy a top priority when we took back the House and Senate last year -- we raised auto fuel economy standards for the first time in a generation and overcoming the objections of the auto and oil industries and the Republicans in Congress and the White House.

We voted for one bill after another to improve American energy policy – to expand wind, solar and other renewable energy sources, to increase efficiency and conservation, to curb speculation in oil markets, to release oil from the strategic reserve, and to recoup tens of billions of dollars that oil companies unfairly have taken from the taxpayer.

Every attempt to shape our energy future was opposed by the majority of Republicans in Congress and by President Bush -- and gas rose to $4 a gallon.

Congress must work together to take a bold, innovative step forward to help consumers, create good American jobs, and put America on a path toward clean energy and energy independence.

The narrow special interests cannot once again cause us to fail to reach new heights. We cannot succumb to the old entrenched interests that have squandered our resources, robbed the taxpayers, and harmed the consumer and the environment.

Our bill is the most comprehensive energy bill to come around in decades. We accomplish what American families want. It is responsible, it is affordable, and it is innovative.

This bill was written for American families, not the oil companies. Our bill was written for Americans who want to know where their next job is going to come from.

At a time when the Bush Administration has lost over 600,000 jobs this year alone, Americans want to know what is the next big thing. The answer is -- energy. By extending and expanding tax incentives for renewable energy, America will retain and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

In fact, investments in renewable energy create three to five times as many jobs as investments in fossil-fuel energy. Those jobs will dry up without this bill.

We are going to use American energy and American ingenuity for America’s future. Now is the time for our comprehensive energy plan.

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Miller urges passage of Comprehensive Energy Bill

Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) released the following statement regarding the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act that will be voted on in Congress next week. Miller is Chairman of the House Democratic Policy Committee and the former Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. He is an original co-sponsor and co-author of the bill, along with Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Rep. Gene Green (D-TX).

“House Democrats have been working for comprehensive energy policy ever since we took control of Congress in January of last year. Next week, we'll vote on that energy policy.

“The goal of our bill is to lower gas prices and energy bills for families, drivers, and businesses, create jobs, protect taxpayers, and invest in a clean and independent energy future. That is a significant change in the energy policy that brought us $4 a gallon gasoline.

“Our bill will harness American energy and American ingenuity for a more secure, sustainable, and productive future. Our plan works for the economy, our energy independence, and America's families.”

“We will expand renewable energy by investing in wind power, solar and other clean energy sources. This is incredibly important for our economic and environmental future. We'll expand domestic supply of American energy sources inside our borders.

“Under our bill, the federal government would allow additional offshore drilling in a responsible and safe manner in waters that are 100 miles or further from our coastlines. States will have the right to say ‘yes or no’ to responsible offshore drilling in waters between 50 miles and 100 miles from their coastlines. The new legislation would protect states' coastlines out to 50 miles, and would permanently protect sensitive areas such as national marine monuments and sanctuaries.

“In return for this new drilling opportunity, we will ensure that taxpayers get a fair return from the oil companies. Up until now, oil companies have gotten a sweetheart deal, costing taxpayers billions of dollars in lost revenues that they have been rightfully owed. President Bush and the Republican Congress have guaranteed oil companies these unneeded subsidies and unjustified tax breaks even while the price at the pump has soared and energy industry profits have set new records.

“Our bill would bring the oil companies’ sweetheart deal to an end.

“The American people want an energy plan that works for them, that speaks to their future, and that lowers the cost of energy. We will vote on just that plan next week with our comprehensive energy plan. I urge all of my colleagues to vote for it and I urge President Bush to sign it into law. "

The Comprehensive American Energy Security & Consumer Protection Act will invest in renewable energies including wind, solar, natural gas and biofuels; expand our domestic energy sources, including new domestic drilling; invest in conservation and efficiency; and end unjustified subsidies to oil companies, requiring them to pay what they owe to American taxpayers.

This is the latest of a series of major energy packages considered by the Democratic 110th Congress. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the most significant energy legislation in a generation, was signed into law in December 2007. That law included the first congressional increase in vehicle fuel efficiency standards in more than three decades, improved energy efficiency, promoted the use of renewable energy, and increased investment in transportation alternatives.

Since the passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the Democratic Congress has repeatedly voted to increase the use of renewable energy, increase efficiency and conservation, end speculation, restore fair payments from oil companies, and on other measures to increase supply and transition the country to a cleaner energy future. These bills have been opposed by Republicans in either the House or the Senate:

The Gas Price Relief for Consumers Act
The Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act
The Strategic Petroleum Reserve Fill Suspension and Consumer Protection Act
The Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act
The Energy Price Gouging Prevention

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