News

WASHINGTON, DC - House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) marked the second anniversary of the stimulus bill by seeking answers from the Department of Energy (DOE) on its inaugural $535 million stimulus loan guarantee awarded in March of 2009. Solyndra, Inc. of Fremont, California, was the first recipient of a DOE stimulus loan; the highly publicized award was to finance construction of a new manufacturing facility for solar panels that was expected to create thousands of jobs. Since the announcement, the firm has proceeded to...

Pitts, Upton Push to Ease Delays in Medical Device Regulatory Process to Benefit Patients, Spur Job Growth

WASHINGTON, DC - The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), today held a hearing to examine the impact of medical device regulations on patients and jobs. During the hearing, members of the subcommittee questioned the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Device and Radiological Health Director Jeffrey Shuren about recent reports that small businesses and device companies are being forced to market their devices first in Europe because the EU countries have a more predictable and consistent regulatory process.

"Multiple studies have...

Say What?

On the House floor this afternoon, members debated an amendment offered by Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden and Reps. Cliff Stearns, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Tom Graves to prohibit the FCC from clamping down on and regulating the Internet.

Supporters of the net neutrality Internet regulations made some interesting claims in their effort to defend the FCC's controversial plan to change the rules.

CLICK HERE to Watch

Rep. Ed Markey: "Vote no on this amendment that shuts down the Internet."

FACT: The federal government has...

Upton Comments on Well Containment in the Gulf, Federal Court Ruling on Deep-Water Permits

WASHINGTON, DC - House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) today welcomed the opportunity for increased American energy production in response to news that a well containment system is now operational in the Gulf. Development of an underwater oil containment system was a key condition for reinstatement of Gulf oil production after last year's catastrophic Deepwater Horizon spill. Upton also praised today's ruling by Judge Martin Feldman of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana that ordered the Department of Interior to act...

NEWS: Media Outlets Report on Communications and Technology Subcommittee Efforts to Fight Government Takeover of the Internet

NATIONAL JOURNAL: GOP offer resolution to try to block net neutrality rules

As promised, Republicans in both the House and Senate introduced legislation Wednesday aimed at blocking the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality rules.

In the House, Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., offered a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which gives lawmakers a limited amount of time to try to block agency rules like the FCC's net neutrality order from going into effect. An...

In the News

Whitfield Discusses Need to Hit "the Pause Button" on EPA Regulation While Congress Prepares to Act

WASHINGTON, DC - This evening on the House Floor, Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-KY) engaged in a colloquy with Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Mike Simpson (R-ID) to discuss provisions in the Continuing Resolution government funding package that would temporarily block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. This temporary halt on the EPA's overreaching regulatory efforts will happen in conjunction with efforts to permanently make clear that such regulations were never envisioned by Congress under current law.

Whitfield joined...

Walden, Upton Join Senate Leaders in Unveiling Resolution to Reverse FCC's Controversial Internet Regulations

WASHINGTON, DC - House and Senate leaders on communications and technology policy today formally introduced a Resolution of Disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to reverse the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules. Leading the effort in the House are Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI). Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Ranking Member Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) joined Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and others to introduce identical legislation in the Senate. The Resolution...

Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Probes New Bureaucracy Responsible for Granting Widespread Waivers for Massive Health Care Law

WASHINGTON, DC - The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing today examining the new bureaucracy responsible for granting widespread waivers for the massive health care law. The subcommittee heard from the officials responsible for granting the waivers, Steve Larsen, Deputy Administrator and Director for the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), and Jay Angoff, Senior Advisor, Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and former Director of the Office for Consumer Information and Insurance...