WASHINGTON - Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green), a member of the
House Committee on Agriculture, along with all 17 Republican members of
the Agriculture Committee sent Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter today
asking for more time to consider the Waxman-Markey climate change and
energy legislation (H.R. 2454). Rep. Pelosi told committee chairmen
that they had until June 19 to consider H.R. 2454. This timeline has
allowed the Agriculture Committee to hold only one public hearing on the
bill with no time for a markup. To date, only the Energy and Commerce
Committee, of which Rep. Henry Waxman is the chair, has been able to
hold a markup out of the nine committees that have jurisdiction of this
bill.
NOTE: Congressman Latta's recent floor speech highlighting the impact of
Cap and Trade on rural America and the agriculture community, in
addition to his opening statement from last week's Agriculture Committee
hearing on Cap and Trade can be found here.
The text of the letter is included below:
June 16, 2009
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi,
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
H-232, The Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Madam Speaker,
We write to express our concern over the artificial timeline
that dictates the consideration of H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy
and Security Act of 2009. We respectfully request that appropriate time
be allowed for the legislative process to be completed.
As a result of your stated deadline of June 19 for
consideration, the Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture has
told us that there is insufficient time to completely hear from all of
our constituents, analyze this complex proposal, and act. With the
magnitude of this bill, it is critically important that the House
Agriculture Committee has sufficient time to work its will.
On Thursday June 11, our Committee held a hearing to review the
impact of H.R. 2454 on rural America. The Committee took testimony from
eight witnesses, covering a wide variety of rural interests. All
witnesses said they could not support the bill. Beyond these
witnesses, 99 agriculture organizations have already publicly expressed
opposition to the bill and more are added to the list each day. This is
indicative of the growing concerns we are hearing throughout the
agriculture community.
Madam Speaker, please extend your June 19 deadline. Both
supporters and opponents agree this legislation will have far-reaching
effects on generations to come. This matter deserves thoughtful
consideration and a careful legislative process.
Sincerely,
Rep. Frank D. Lucas (R-OK)
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
Rep. Jerry Moran (R-KS)
Rep. Timothy V. Johnson, (R-IL)
Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO)
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL)
Rep. Steve King (R-IA)
Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)
Rep. K. Michael Conaway (R-TX)
Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE)
Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH)
Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE)
Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH)
Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN)
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)
Rep. Glenn W. Thompson (R-PA)
Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)
