CONTACT:
Dennis Whitfield, Executive Vice President 703-836-8602

ACU to Liberal Congress: Come Clean
Alexandria, VA—The American Conservative Union, the nation’s leading conservative organization and host of the annual CPAC conference, today called on the liberal leadership in Congress to “come clean” over the bankrupt energy policies that have dramatically increased the cost of energy.

“The liberal leadership in Congress has opposed commonsense energy solutions for years,” said ACU Chairman David A. Keene. “Now, as Americans are paying higher prices at the pump, the liberals that run our Congress are scrambling to find ways to undo the havoc they helped wreak,” said Keene.

“Instead of facing up to their foibles, they are trying to follow the same old, tired playbook of taxing energy providers while promoting so-called alternative fuels that are not even currently commercially viable. These policies make things worse by driving up prices and reducing incentives for domestic energy production. They need to come clean with the American public,” he added.

ACU points to specific examples of where liberal leadership has failed the American people:

• On May 25, 2006, the House passed a bill to authorize oil and gas production in ANWR—Pelosi voted no and liberals in the Senate killed it.
• On June 7, 2006 the House voted to expand oil refinery construction—Pelosi voted no and liberals in the Senate killed it.
• A few weeks later on June 29, 2006 the House voted to end the moratorium on offshore oil and natural gas exploration—Pelosi voted no yet again and liberals in the Senate killed it.

Larry Hart, Director of Government Relations for the American Conservative Union, added that as recently as May 13 of this year, the Senate attempted to create a comprehensive energy package to increase domestic oil and gas production only to see it defeated by the liberal leadership once again.

ACU Executive Vice President Dennis E. Whitfield said ACU will continue its push to mobilize grassroots support for a comprehensive energy policy with the following elements:
• No new energy taxes
• Prudent development of known U.S. energy reserves
• A rational permitting process that will allow the construction of new and modern refineries
• Long-term development of alternative sources of energy, including the expansion of nuclear power

“It is time to get real about a commonsense long-term energy policy in the U.S. We intend to hold the liberals in Washington accountable for their inaction and hypocrisy,” added Whitfield.

Click here for the Top 4 Reasons the Liberal Congress Should Come Clean!