Yesterday, the Democrats in Congress called the Republicans’ bluff. You want efficient public schools? Good. Congressman Ben Chandler, who is very far from liberal, had introduced H.R.3021, the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act. The proposed law would encourage public schools to run efficiently.
No more money-guzzling out of date school buildings. No more safety hazards for American children. The legislation would provide an investment in energy-efficient, healthy, technologically-updated schools. That way, taxpayers would save huge amounts of money on their property taxes by not having to pay so much on energy costs for schools at a time when the price of energy is shooting through the roof.
Under this law, more money would go toward quality education. Less taxpayer money would go to just keeping children warm in the winter, or to protecting schoolchildren in the South from record-breaking heat. For a small national investment in efficient schools, taxpayers around the country would get huge savings for an entire generation to come.
This legislation does exactly what Republicans say they want to do. It makes public schools more efficient. In fact, the bill makes such plain sense that 27 Republican members of the House of Representatives crossed the aisle yesterday to vote in favor of it. Thanks to them, the bill passed, and will become law if passed by the Senate. Those Republicans voting in favor were:
| Tom Davis Charles Dent Mario Diaz-Balart Lincoln Diaz-Balart Phil English Jim Gerlach Robin Hayes Timothy Johnson Ric Keller Mark Kirk Steven LaTourette Frank LoBiondo Tim Murphy Candice Miller John McHugh Michael McCaul |
Todd Platts Jon Porter Jim Ramstad David Reichert Rick Renzi Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Jim Saxton Christopher Shays Christopher Smith Jerry Weller Ed Whitfield |
Sadly, 164 Republicans in Congress actually voted against making public schools more efficient. They voted against the bill. The names of these short-sighted members of Congress are:
| Robert Aderholt Todd Akin Rodney Alexander Michelle Bachmann Spencer Bachus Gresham Barrett Roscoe Bartlett Joe Barton Judy Biggert Brian Bilbray Gus Bilirakis Rob Bishop Marsha Blackburn Roy Blunt John Boehner Jo Bonner Mary Bono John Boozman Charles Boustany Kevin Brady Paul Broun Henry Brown Ginny Brown-Waite Vern Buchanan |
Michael Burgess Dan Burton Steve Buyer Ken Calvert David Camp Chris Cannon Eric Cantor Shelley Capito John Carter Michael Castle Howard Coble Tom Cole Michael Conaway Ander Crenshaw John Culberson David Davis Geoff Davis Thelma Drake |
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| John Duncan Vernon Ehlers Jo Ann Emerson Terry Everett Mary Fallin Tom Feeney Michael Ferguson Jeff Flake Randy Forbes Jeff Fortenberry Vito Fossella Virginia Foxx Trent Franks Rodney Frelinghuysen Scott Garrett Phil Gingrey Virgil Goode Bob Goodlatte |
Kay Granger Sam Graves Ralph Hall Doc Hastings Dean Heller Jeb Hensarling Wally Herger David Hobson Peter Hoekstra Kenny Hulshof Bob Inglis Darrell Issa Sam Johnson Walter Jones Jim Jordan Steve King Peter King Jack Kingston John Kline |
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| Joseph Knollenberg Randy Kuhl Ray LaHood Doug Lamborn Tom Latham Bob Latta Ron Lewis Jerry Lewis John Linder Frank Lucas Dan Lungren Donald Manzullo Kevin McCarthy Thaddeus McCotter Patrick McHenry Howard McKeon Cathy McMorris Rodgers John Mica Jeff Miller |
Gary Miller James Moran Marilyn Musgrave Sue Myrick Randy Neugebauer Devin Nunes Ron Paul Stevan Pearce Mike Pence John Peterson Thomas Petri Charles Pickering Joseph Pitts Ted Poe Tom Price Adam Putnam George Radanovich Ralph Regula Dennis Rehberg Tom Reynolds |
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| Michael Rogers Harold Rogers Mike Rogers Dana Rohrabacher Peter Roskam Edward Royce Paul Ryan Bill Sali Steve Scalise Jean Schmidt James Sensenbrenner Peter Sessions John Shadegg John Shimkus Bill Shuster Michael Simpson Adrian Smith Lamar Smith Mark Souder Cliff Stearns |
John Sullivan Tom Tancredo Lee Terry Mac Thornberry Todd Tiahrt Patrick Tiberi Michael Turner Fred Upton Tim Walberg Greg Walden James Walsh Zach Wamp David Weldon Lynn Westmoreland Heather Wilson Joe Wilson Rob Wittman Frank Wolf Don Young C.W. Bill Young |
