PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RELATING TO "ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR APPLIANCE STANDARDS: CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS, LABELING...

On 2025-03-05, Representative Andrew S. Clyde (R-GA-9) delivered a floor speech titled "PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RELATING TO "ENERGY CONSERVATI" in the House.

PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RELATING TO "ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR APPLIANCE STANDARDS: CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS, LABELING...

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 42 (Wednesday, March 5, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 5, 2025)] [House] [Pages H991-H996] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] {time} 1300 PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY RELATING TO ``ENERGY CONSERVATION PROGRAM FOR APPLIANCE STANDARDS: CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS, LABELING REQUIREMENTS, AND ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND COMMERCIAL EQUIPMENT'' Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 177, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 42) providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to ``Energy Conservation Program for Appliance Standards: Certification Requirements, Labeling Requirements, and Enforcement Provisions for Certain Consumer Products and Commercial Equipment'', and ask for its immediate consideration. The Clerk read the title of the joint resolution. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 177, the joint resolution is considered read. The text of the joint resolution is as follows: H.J. Res. 42 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the Department of Energy relating to ``Energy Conservation Program for Appliance Standards: Certification Requirements, Labeling Requirements, and Enforcement Provisions for Certain Consumer Products and Commercial Equipment'' (89 Fed. Reg. 81994 (October 9, 2024)), and such rule shall have no force or effect. [[Page H992]] The SPEAKER pro tempore. The joint resolution shall be debatable for 1 hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce or their respective designees. The gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Griffith) and the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) each will control 30 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Griffith). General Leave Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks on the legislation and to insert extraneous material on H.J. Res. 42. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Virginia? There was no objection. Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde). Mr. CLYDE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my Congressional Review Act joint resolution of disapproval which seeks to overturn the Department of Energy's final rule on the Energy Conservation Program for Appliance Standards: Certification Requirements, Labeling Provisions, and Enforcement Provisions. Over the past 4 years, the Biden-Harris administration has flooded our economy with burdensome regulations, stifling growth and restricting Americans' freedoms. In total, these regulations have imposed a staggering $1.7 trillion in costs on the American people. Fortunately, House Republicans and President Trump are committed to rolling back these unnecessary and costly mandates. The latest example of overreach came in October of 2024, when the Department of Energy finalized new certification, labeling, and enforcement requirements affecting 20 different consumer and commercial products, including dishwashers, central air conditioners, heat pumps, washing machines, battery chargers, and light bulbs. These new mandates add unnecessary red tape, disrupt supply chains, limit consumer choice, and drive up prices. It is time to get the Washington bureaucracy out of Americans' everyday lives. My legislation seeks to rescind this final rule which places excessive costs and bureaucratic obstacles on appliance manufacturers, costs that will inevitably be passed down to consumers. In its broader push against fossil fuels, the Biden administration has imposed at least 31 appliance regulations at an estimated cost of over $60 billion. This resolution would eliminate Biden-era energy conservation certification and labeling regulations, ensuring that American consumers, not Washington bureaucrats, decide which appliances best fit their needs. Even the Biden-Harris Department of Energy acknowledges that this rule will increase annual costs for individual manufacturers by $213,000 and require an additional 2,905 hours of compliance paperwork, just paperwork, a major burden, particularly for small businesses. As a small business owner myself, I understand how crushing regulations like these harm the small businesses that drive our economy, especially in rural communities like northeast Georgia. Last November, the American people soundly rejected the Biden-Harris administration's disastrous policies. Now, as President Trump moves swiftly to get our country back on track, Congress must act to roll back these costly misguided regulations, starting with the Department of Energy's appliance rule. I thank Chairman Guthrie, Chairman Griffith, and House leadership for prioritizing this commonsense legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support its final passage to protect consumer choice, reduce costs, and eliminate unnecessary regulatory burdens. Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in strong opposition to H.J. Res. 42. This resolution is a deliberate distraction from the fact that 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 then randomly selected an obscure, noncontroversial rule, one that is, by the way, supported by American manufacturers. That is why we are here today. We are not here to talk about Republican cuts to Medicare or DOGE's raid of the Federal Government or Trump's tariffs that are tanking the stock market and threatening a recession. We are 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. Let me talk about them. Let me start with the fact that the recently finalized Department of Energy rule that Republicans want to strike from the books isn't even an efficiency standard. It is a set of technical updates to certification requirements and labels for select products that fall under the appliance standards program. Now, you might say: Congressman Pallone, what does this mean? It means that Republicans are simply 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 is that manufacturers have been submitting certification information to the Department of Energy for decades, and 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 the Department of Energy on how to prove that they are compliant. As a result, these companies will likely have to waste valuable time and resources on communications with lawyers and the Department of Energy as everyone tries to figure out how to move forward. My colleagues on the other side are suggesting they are cutting red tape, but it seems to me they are creating more red tape with this resolution. Absolutely no one opposed the Department of Energy's final rule on this topic, no one. In fact, manufacturers are on record saying that consistent and clear certification guidance is helpful and necessary to them. Today's resolution is the opposite of consistent and clear. They are asking for this, the manufacturers are, and you are saying no. You don't even know what you are talking about, frankly. I refuse to believe that--I can't believe that they think on the other side that this is a 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. Every day for the last 6 weeks, we have heard horror stories of mass firings across the Federal Government, funding freezes, and Elon Musk and his minions having access to every American's private, personal financial and healthcare information. This is what I hear about when I go home. The list goes on. Now, there is a looming government shutdown next week. 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 Department of Energy 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. The Republicans have made their choice. They have sided once again with the 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 choices. The only thing it does is create chaos and confusion, from what I can see. For all these reasons, I oppose the resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker. Mr. GRIFFITH. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Guthrie), the chairman of [[Page H993]] the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Mr. GUTHRIE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, in the subcommittee

Referenced legislation: HJRES42, HJRES42, HRES177