Rep. Jody Hice, Georgia Republican, said Tuesday he plans to introduce a discharge petition to force a House vote on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, saying that voters “need to know where their representatives stand.”
“When we get back from Easter, I’m going to the House floor to try to force a vote on this,” Mr. Hice said at a House Oversight and Reform Committee meeting on climate change. “The American people need to know where their representatives stand on this issue. I’m putting forth a discharge petition so the American people can know.”
The House is scheduled to reconvene April 29 after a two-week district work period timed to Easter, which is April 21.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is unlikely to allow a vote on the non-binding resolution introduced Feb. 7, which she previously referred to as “the green dream,” although 10 Democratic presidential candidates have endorsed it, according to Americans for Tax Reform.
Last month, the Senate voted 0-57 to defeat the Green New Deal resolution sponsored by Sen. Edward Markey, Massachusetts Democrat. All Senate Democrats voted “present,” accusing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of holding a politically motivated “sham vote.”
Talking now in @GOPoversight about the #GreenNewDeal, an important resolution because it presents a clear choice for the American people: Government-control or free-markets?
— Rep. Jody Hice (@CongressmanHice) April 9, 2019
With many @OversightDems as original co-sponsors of the #GND, I hope many sign to bring it for a vote.
Mr. Hice said that if the House takes up the resolution, “I hope my Democrat colleagues will not vote present but will stand up.”
He had previously broached the plan for a floor vote at the March 28 kick-off of the House Energy Action Team, led by House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, which was formed to support an “all of the above” energy strategy and oppose the Green New Deal.
The Green New Deal, which calls for transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy and net-zero emissions through a 10-year national mobilization, has 91 cosponsors in the House, all Democrats.
Supporters have described the non-binding resolution as an aspirational document, while critics note that the cost has been estimated at as high as $93 trillion, or “the GDP of the entire world combined,” said Mr. Hice.
“Fifteen [Democrats] in this committee have cosponsored this,” he said. “The American people need to know where their representatives need to stand on these two sides of a very important issue.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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