Last week, with little debate and only one amendment allowed, Democrats rushed to the House floor what is likely to be the largest tax increase in American history. H.R. 2454, drafted by Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-CA), is a massive tax that will raise energy prices on every American, cost thousands of Texans their jobs and millions of Texans their hard earned dollars all for very little positive environmental impact.

To view Congressman Culberson's video blog on H.R. 2454, please click on the screen below.

To learn more about the imapact cap and trade will have on Texas, please click

here.  

Today, with little debate and only one amendment allowed, Democrats rushed to the House floor what is likely to be the largest tax increase in American history. H.R. 2454, drafted by Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-CA), is a massive tax that will raise energy prices on every American, cost thousands of Texans their jobs and millions of Texans their hard earned dollars all for very little positive environmental impact.

Recent analysis by The Heritage Foundation has shown that the Waxman-Markey “cap and tax bill” will cost American families more than $3,000 per year. Seniors will be forced to bear the burden of increased prices, as will low-income families who will spend a larger portion of their budgets on rising energy bills. The cost to Texas alone could reach $20 billion in added electricity costs, which is an increase of more than $600 per household per year in utility bills, according to a study commissioned by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. While our economy is struggling to recover from a recession, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on American consumers.

The Waxman-Markey bill will also bring economic destruction to Texas. The Heritage Foundation also found that unemployment will increase by nearly 2 million in 2012, the first year of the cap and tax program. District 7 alone is expected to lose more than 4,000 jobs and personal income is projected to decline by over $560 million. The Heritage Foundation is not alone in this assessment. Organizations from the National Black Chamber of Commerce to the Brookings Institution have also predicted huge job losses.

While this bill will raise prices, raise unemployment and stifle domestic energy production, it will do little to lower global temperatures. Proponents of this bill claim that it is an effective way to address climate change, but the Obama Administration’s own EPA analysis shows that if the U.S. implemented a 60 percent reduction in CO2 emission, the global temperature would only be reduced by 0.1-0.2 degrees Celsius by 2095.

I believe that there is a better way to promote conservation while protecting American tax dollars, which is why I am a co-sponsor of H.R. 2828, the American Energy Innovation Act. This fiscally responsible approach encourages innovation by investing in renewable energy technology, promotes conservation by providing incentives for reducing energy demand, and increases production of American energy by utilizing available resources and streamlining burdensome regulations. These steps will make America energy self-sufficient and improve our environment in the process.

I was deeply saddened to hear the news this morning of Police Officer Henry Canales’ tragic death. Over 15 years ago Officer Canales started his career with the Houston Police Department working to keep our city safe. His passing is a terrible loss for not only the Canales’ family and the Houston Police Department, but for the entire Houston Community. My thoughts and prayers are with the Canales family and their friends during this difficult time.

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Unfortunately, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote during the Teletown Hall and Web chat this evening. Congressman Culberson will work to reschedule as soon as possible.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Today at Ellington Field Congressman Culberson welcomed home our brave soldiers who were serving overseas in defense of our nation. To view Channel 39’s report of the ceremony, please click on the screen below.

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Record high spending bills are passing the House without a chance for Members of Congress and the American public to read the legislation. It is time to stop voting blind. Yesterday Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) and I introduced H.Res. 554, a resolution requiring the House of Representatives to make bills and conference reports available online for 72 hours before they are considered by the House. This resolution will enhance public participation in our democracy and help restore the public trust in government by raising the level of openness, order and discourse.

Today the nonpartisan, nonprofit Sunlight Foundation praised this resolution. Ellen Miller, executive director and co-founder of the Sunlight Foundation said, “We commend Reps. Baird and Culberson for demonstrating such strong support for increasing legislative transparency in the House. By making the core activity of the House—the consideration of legislation—more transparent, this rules change would strengthen the public's trust in the institution, improve legislation and trim wasteful spending. When legislation is not available for lawmaker or public review, we end up with special amendments like the Stimulus Bill’s last-minute loophole that allowed AIG executives to receive retroactive bonuses at the American taxpayers’ expense. If Congress and citizens alike had 72 hours to read the Stimulus Bill online, someone would have noticed the AIG provision and fixed it before it became law.”

To learn more about H.Res. 554 please click here.

Last night House Democrats brought forward a $64.31 billion Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill – a 12 percent increase over last year’s spending bill. After 22 minutes of debate and just one Republican amendment, Democrats shut down the House of Representatives preventing any further debate or amendments to stop the out-of-control spending in Washington.

In a little over six months, the liberal majority in Congress has spent more than $1.28 trillion of our tax dollars by rushing bills to the House floor without enough time for review and debate. Never before have so few spent so much in so little time with so little transparency.

It is time to stop spending money and get our fiscal house in order. Today we introduced a resolution requiring the House of Representatives to make bills and conference reports available online for 72 hours before they are considered by the House. This resolution will enhance public participation in our democracy and help restore the public trust in government by raising the level of openness, order, and discourse.

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Beginning Friday, June 12, all over-the-air TV broadcasts will be in digital.  Consumers that need assistance understanding what they need to do to be ready for the DTV transition, or need help with installing converter boxes or setting up new DTV sets, can find support services by entering their zip code at the “Get Help Locally” tool on www.dtv.gov.  Consumers without Internet access can call the FCC Call Center (1-888-CALLFCC) to receive specific information on available installation support services or local DTV walk-in help centers.

Reception Issues

Consumers that have difficulties with reception of digital signals after installing a converter box or new DTV set can enter their address into the FCC’s Reception Map tool at www.dtv.gov to receive specific station information for their location.  Additional guidance regarding antennas is also available.

Consumers without Internet access can call 1-888-CALLFCC to request that a call agent enter their address to determine the local broadcast stations that are expected to provide service to their household.

Consumers who were receiving digital signals prior to the deadline, but lost some of those channels after the switch should perform a “rescan” on their converter box or DTV set.  Some stations are moving channels, and the boxes and DTV sets will need to be reprogrammed to find the new channel locations.  In some cases – particularly where a station is moving to a channel that was previously occupied by another station – a total “reset” of the box or DTV set may be necessary to erase the prior information and rescan for all the new channel locations.  Periodic rescanning will also search for any new multicast programming streams provided by individual stations.

Converter Box Coupons

Consumers can continue to request DTV converter box coupons through www.DTV2009.gov or 1-888-DTV-2009 through July 31 (or until funds are exhausted).

• LIMIT: There is a limit of 2 coupons per household, with replacement coupons available for expired, but unredeemed, coupons.

• EXPIRATION:  All coupons expire 90 days after they are mailed.

• ARRIVAL: It takes approximately 9 business days for coupons to arrive if requested online or by telephone or approximately 3 weeks if requested by mail or fax.

• STATUS CHECK:  The status of a particular coupon request can be checked at: https://www.dtv2009.gov/CheckStatus.aspx

Today President Obama called on Congress to reinstate the PAYGO (pay as you go) “principle.” President Obama noted that “this is an extraordinary moment … to restore fiscal responsibility.” It is unfortunate in the extreme that President Obama realized this extraordinary moment after spending $1.3 trillion, exploding our national debt to more than $11 trillion and setting record-high deficits.

Our government is currently borrowing about 50 cents for every dollar we spend. Medicare is already paying out more in benefits than it collects and Social Security is expected to do the same in less than five years. The total unfunded liabilities for the United States are $60.6 trillion, which exceeds the net worth of America households. Paying off this liability would require every American to write a check to the Treasury Department for $198,000. It is unfortunate for Americans that President Obama’s newfound PAYGO “principle” arrived after his expensive policies were signed into law.

“The administration recently submitted a proposed budget that projects the Federal deficit to reach about $1.8 trillion this fiscal year before declining to $1.3 trillion in 2010 and roughly $900 billion in 2011. As a consequence of this elevated level of borrowing, the ratio of Federal debt held by the public to nominal GDP is likely to move up from about 40 percent before the onset of the financial crisis to about 70 percent in 2011. These developments would leave the debt-to-GDP ratio at its highest level since the early 1950s, the years following the massive debt buildup during World War II.”

“[E]ven as we take steps to address the recession and threats to financial stability, maintaining the confidence of the financial markets requires that we, as a nation, begin planning now for the restoration of fiscal balance.”

“The recent projections from the Social Security and Medicare trustees show that, in the absence of programmatic changes, Social Security and Medicare outlays will together increase from about 8½ percent of GDP to 10 percent by 2020 and 12½ percent by 2030. With the ratio of debt to GDP already elevated, we will not be able to continue borrowing indefinitely to meet these demands.”

“In particular, over the longer term, achieving fiscal sustainability – defined, for example, as a situation in which the ratios of government debt and interest payments to GDP are stable or declining, and tax rates are not so high as to impede economic growth – requires that spending and deficits be well controlled.”

“Unless we demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal sustainability in the longer term, we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth.”

Asked whether the $56 trillion in unfunded liabilities, and the currently growing debt, is the government’s most serious fiscal problem: “I would say that’s right. . . . It’s a very hard problem to solve, but it is critical that we address that.”