The Honorable Steve Scalise
429 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Scalise:

On behalf of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), I want to send my congratulations in light of your recent appointment to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. This is a day on which Americans can take heart in seeing a real leader in the “All of the Above” energy solutions movement being enabled to accomplish important work in their interest.

In the energy challenges to come, America will have to develop all its natural resources in a comprehensive approach to providing ordinary individuals and working families with the fuel they need. That is precisely why I am so encouraged by your appointment.

Environmental extremists have long insisted and will continue to insist that developing resources such as oil (on and offshore), oil shale, and coal will bring untold harm upon surrounding ecosystems. Contrary to their pro-union green agenda, our great nation has developed environmentally-safe and unobtrusive ways of obtaining resources such as offshore oil, and methods of sequestering carbon emissions are currently under study.

Of course other natural resources including wind and solar should not be overlooked, and we appreciate your desire for our country to have all these energy sources at its disposal. As you pointed out during the Energy Speak-In, in the House Chamber above the Speaker’s rostrum is displayed a prominent quote from Daniel Webster: “Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests and see whether we also in our day and generation may not perform something worthy to be remembered.”

Working together and following the sound advice Mr. Webster gracefully furnished us with so many years ago, our nation’s future looks bright and bountiful indeed.

With this in mind, we have developed the “Fiscally Responsible Energy Points for the 111th Congress”. We hope that Congress will use these points as a guide to enact energy legislation that will increase American energy independence while not raising taxes.

If you or your staff would like additional information on ATR’s energy policy work, please contact our federal energy analyst Brian Johnson at bjohnson@atr.org or 202-785-0266.

Onward,

Grover G. Norquist

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