Pallone Blasts Republicans for Wasting Time While Americans Face Skyrocketing Costs and Having Health Care Stripped Away

Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) had the following remarks, as prepared for delivery, on the House floor today in opposition to H.J. Res. 42, a resolution that invokes the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to strike down the Department of Energy's (DOE) updated certification requirements and labels for select appliances that fall under DOE's appliance standards program:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. 

I rise in strong opposition to H.J. Res. 42. This resolution is a deliberate distraction from the fact Republicans cannot govern and have no ideas for lowering costs or helping everyday Americans. Rather than debating things that actually impact our constituents, it appears as if House Republicans opened the Federal Register, searched for what fell within the Congressional Review Act window, and randomly selected an obscure, noncontroversial rule – one that is, by the way, supported by American manufacturers.

So that’s why we’re here today – not to talk about Republican cuts to Medicaid, or DOGE’s raid of the federal government, or Trump’s tariffs that are tanking the stock market and threatening a recession as we speak. We’re not even here to consider a government funding bill, when government funding runs out in less than 10 days. No, we are here to talk about appliance labels.

So let’s talk about them. And let’s start with the fact that the recently-finalized Department of Energy rule Republicans want to strike from the books isn’t an efficiency standard. It is simply a set of technical updates to certification requirements and labels for select products that fall under the appliance standards program. What does this mean? It means Republicans are all out of ideas.

The Republican Majority seems to be under the impression that by removing this rule from the books, they are somehow alleviating a major burden for manufacturers and consumers. The problem with that is, manufacturers have been submitting certification information to DOE for decades. None of this is new.

This Republican resolution will only create regulatory confusion for American manufacturers, because they will still have to make products that meet efficiency standards, but they won’t have updated guidance from DOE on how to prove they are compliant. As a result, these companies will likely have to waste valuable time and resources on communications with lawyers and DOE as everyone tries to figure out how to move forward.

This isn’t cutting red tape, it’s creating more red tape.

Absolutely no one opposed DOE’s final rule. In fact, manufacturers are on record saying that consistent and clear certification guidance is helpful and necessary. Today’s resolution is the opposite of consistent and clear.

But I refuse to believe that this is the most pressing issue facing Americans. In case they have forgotten, Republicans are right now moving forward with a budget that includes devastating cuts to Medicaid all so they can give tax breaks to their billionaire buddies. And every day for the last six weeks, we have heard horror stories of mass firings across the federal government, funding freezes, Elon Musk and his minions having access to every Americans’ private personal financial and health care information… the list goes on and on. And now there is a looming government shutdown.

Rather than tackling these real issues that are impacting the lives of everyday Americans, Republicans are wasting time with this resolution.

As far as I can tell, the only beneficiaries of today’s resolution are foreign manufacturers. If Republicans create chaos and uncertainty by revoking this DOE rule, they will create an opportunity for cheap foreign imports, with misleading claims about performance, to flood our appliance market. That would hurt consumers and American manufacturers alike.

But Republicans have made their choice. They have sided, once again, with foreign manufacturers. They have chosen to push through a resolution that doesn’t reduce regulatory burdens, doesn’t lower costs, and doesn’t improve consumer choice. It only does what Republicans do best – create chaos and confusion.

I oppose this resolution and reserve the balance of my time. 

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