By Rep. Fred Upton - People are already angry about high gas prices. But they really get steamed when they learn how much their own government is contributing to the problem. It’s time for Congress to impose a cease-fire in the Obama administration’s war on lower gasoline prices. A host of factors affect the price of gas. Some, like the upheaval in Libya, are outside our control. But federal laws and regulations that increase energy costs are another matter. They were made in Washington — and ca... Read more

Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, made the following opening statement at today’s Health Subcommittee hearing, which considered the costs that will be imposed through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf, CMS Chief Actuary Rick Foster, economists, and job creators testified on the true cost of the healthca... Read more

By U.S. Rep. Fred Upton - We continue to endure tough times here in southwest Michigan and across the country. Unemployment remains high as gas prices hurtle toward $4 a gallon. And yet, despite our economic maladies, there are unelected bureaucrats in Washington furiously working on regulations that will not only circumvent Congress, but will send more manufacturing jobs overseas and increase costs at the pump. During the last Congress, legislation was introduced to regulate greenhouse gases th... Read more

Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) yesterday completed a three-day series of 18 public listening sessions that included stops in Allegan, Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, and Van Buren counties. The events, which were held from March 22-24, were attended by thousands of southwest Michigan residents. The listening tour allowed constituents to share their views with Upton on issues facing Michigan and the country. Some of the federal matters that were discussed included jobs and the econom... Read more

The House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), yesterday passed the Energy Tax Prevention Act (H.R. 910) and H.J.Res. 37, a congressional resolution disapproving the Federal Communications Commission’s Internet rules. These bills are designed to rein in overreaching federal regulators by setting aside controversial Internet rules and stopping the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from driving up energy prices and shipping U.S. jobs overseas. “I applaud the commit... Read more

Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, made the following opening statement at today’s Energy and Power Subcommittee and Environment and the Economy Subcommittee joint hearing with Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Gregory Jaczko. Originally scheduled to examine the FY 2012 Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission budgets, the hearing provided an opportunity for Congress to formall... Read more

By Emily Miller - The House and Senate Republicans both moved forward on Tuesday to stop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse emissions. The Obama administration has started implementing new regulations which tax businesses and raise gas prices for consumers to pursue its climate change agenda. The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the Energy Tax Prevention Act (H.R. 910) on Tuesday by a vote of 34-19. Three Democrats on the committee supported the bill: ... Read more

The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power took a strong stand today in support of jobs and against higher gasoline and energy costs by approving H.R. 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011. The bipartisan measure passed by voice vote, and no amendments were offered. The bill now moves to the full Energy and Commerce Committee for consideration, with a markup scheduled for early next week, commencing with opening statements Monday afternoon. “The Energy Tax Prevention Act is no... Read more

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., praised House passage of the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act of 2011 (H.R. 4), which repeals the harmful 1099 tax reporting requirement from the health care overhaul. The legislation, of which Upton is an original cosponsor, passed the House by a vote of 314 to 112. “American small businesses should be focused on local job creation, not complying with costly, burdensome mandates coming out of Washington,” said Upton. “These new requirements under t... Read more

It's hard to find two more interesting or important congressional panels these days than the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee, chaired, respectively, by Rep. Fred Upton of Michigan and Rep. Doc Hastings of Washington. Upton and Hastings are at the center of the House Republican majority's efforts to stop two major items on President Obama's agenda: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson's attempt to implement by bureaucratic fiat a... Read more