Doggett says 'No' then votes 'Yes' for House energy bill

Send your comments to online.editor@valleyspringcomm.net or to the congressman, lloyd.doggett@mail.house.gov

Editor's note: From here it sounds like the congressman got something for his vote. It'd sure be nice if he would share. Here's also hoping that in the coming health care reform battles and legislation in the House and Senate, Mr. Doggett will have ONE voice for the one true reform – a public plan option that will reduce premium costs for many businesses and individual constituents.

Check out the congressman's web site for more details here: http://doggett.house.gov/

We're a little late in getting back to this one, but just for the record our Congressman Lloyd Doggett ultimately voted AYE for The American Clean Energy and Security Act.

The vote in the US House of Representatives took place on Friday June 26, with a very close and final tally of 219 ayes to 212 nays. Commentary following the vote suggested there was a lot of arm twisting and bartering going on behind the scenes to get as many Democrats on board as possible – a not unusual practice on either side of the isle.

Congressman Doggett had made a speech a few hours before the vote in which he made a strong argument for why he could not support the bill. During the debate his press secretary Sarah Dohl told the RoundUp she wasn't sure how the congressman would vote.

Doggett, it turns out, voted for the bill after returning from a one-on-one at the White House with President Obama.

Here's what Doggett stated in his pre vote speech: "This energy bill’s fine print betrays its laudable purpose. The real cap is on the public interest and the trade is the billions from the public to polluters. It is too weak to greatly spur new technologies and green jobs. An Administration analysis shows that doing nothing actually results in more new renewable electricity generation capacity than approving this bill."

Here's the statement issued by Doggett's press office after the vote: "This was a difficult vote for me because while I have worked long and hard to achieve a meaningful response to climate change, I recognize the many deficiencies in the Waxman-Markey legislation. This bill began weak and got steadily weaker, including the hundreds of pages that were added to it at 2:30 AM Friday, shortly before floor debate got underway. Hence, my first morning speech expresses my strong dissatisfaction, and the latter near the very end of the day’s debate, reluctantly concludes that I would have a slightly better chance to seek improvements by voting for approval rather than rejection."

Mr. Doggett, an Austin Democrat, represents the 25th Congressional District.
The district includes all of Hays County and all or part of 7 other counties.