Stop Unaffordable Dishwasher Standards Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, we often talk about kitchen table issues, and what better time to elevate those issues than this week, which you all have declared in honor of refrigerator freedom.

Specifically, as I was walking around July Fourth, I heard a lot of issues from my constituents about refrigerators.

Some of them asked: Who put the meat in the crisper drawer?

That was a big fight.

Why aren't you using the egg holder for your eggs?

If you use the last of the mustard, don't just put it back in the fridge; go to the store and get some more mustard.

That is a fight.

There is the always controversial: Should we or should we not replace a perfectly good refrigerator just because it doesn't match our cabinets?

These are the real issues that are bothering Americans around their kitchen table when they talk about refrigerators. If those sound silly, I will only point out that those issues are vastly more important, more substantive, and are legitimate points of debate. You can argue both sides of any of those issues more than anything in this bill because this bill doesn't address those issues. All it does is gut efficiency standards that if left in place will save American consumers more than $3 billion on their utility bills over the next three decades.

I am going to say this very slowly so everybody across the aisle can understand: If you save energy, then you don't have to pay for energy.

I think you all know this, Mr. Speaker, because some of you have probably at some point said to your kids: Shut the window. I have got the AC on. I don't want to waste energy. I don't want to waste money when I cool my house.

That is the same thing here in these standards.

Also, I think, as anybody who has ever sat around a kitchen table knows, Americans kind of like to save money on their energy bills. Here we find ourselves with efficiency standards in place that lower Americans' utility bills, and Republicans are proposing legislation to block Americans from access to cheaper energy in the name of refrigerator freedom. God bless refrigerators.

I oppose this bill because it is bad for consumers, it is bad for the environment, and, quite honestly, it is bad for this institution because it is a waste of our time.

Furthermore, at the appropriate time, Mr. Speaker, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill back to committee. If House rules permitted, I would have offered this motion with an important amendment to this bill, and my amendment would require that the act not take effect until the Secretary of Energy submits to Congress a certification that this act, including amendments made by this act, will not result in higher energy costs for American consumers.

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Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for this motion to recommit.

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Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

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