U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference and the American Energy Solutions Group, made the following statement today after Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA) introduced their “cap and trade” proposal:

Back in Indiana and across the country the American people want Congress to focus on their number one concern: jobs.  Instead of working together to help create jobs, Senate Democrats introduced an energy bill that is just another jobs-killing national energy tax.

This proposal will inflict a lot of pain on our struggling economy.  Even internal memos drafted in the Obama Administration suggest the average American household will be hit each year with more than $1,700 in new taxes, as a result of their own cap and tax plan.  This is a bad deal at the worst time for American families.

House Republicans have a better plan, one that doesn’t impose a national energy tax on working families and small businesses.  The ‘American Energy Act’ is an all-of-the-above energy solution that will create good paying jobs, chart a course for energy independence and help clean up our environment.   It’s time that this Democrat Congress set aside their plans for a national energy tax and begin to focus on creating jobs for the American people.