I recently hosted a town hall/summit on energy.  As Tom Kuhlman said in a comment, we must drill for oil in ANWR, the gulf, in Oil Shale, Nuclear Power, and yes, alternatives.  He is right and will start that bandwagon this week when I introduce legislation allowing the President to bypass regulation on oil shale development and begin extracting oil from shale this year.  The Western Caucus, which I chair, is also near to introducing a comprehensive energy plan that includes all of the measures Tom and others suggest.  The recent summit received great coverage in the Richfield Reaper and can be read here.  As the article points out,

Utah could play a major role in creating energy independence for the U.S., but environmental restrictions are going to be one of the hardest hurdles to overcome, Hartley said. More than 60 percent of land that has potential for energy resource development in Utah is closed…

This is what my legislation will bypass.  That is just the beginning.  We need to start defeating Democrats who will vote against this legislation.  My opponent could have taken a great step forward for american energy if he would have taken on Rep. Matheson.  Instead, I will have to deal with 2 yes and 1 continuing NO vote on energy independence in Congress.  Perhaps he can run against Mr. Matheson in 2010 since my opponent declares he will “never move” to the 3rd District.   

I would encourage you to check out the American Conservative Union ratings for this year and prior years. My opponent likes to create votes or misread votes to distort my record, but at the ACU site you can see what votes were counted, how I voted, and how others voted.  This is not, as he likes to dismiss them, lobbyist created or DC insider ratings.  You can see every vote…because as a member of Congress, you have to attach your name to a vote.

I was honored this year to be named to the ACU “Honor Roll” -

The American Conservative Union (ACU) has named Representative Cannon (R-UT) to its “Honor Roll” of members in the 110th Congress by scoring 88% or higher on its ratings for 2007.

“The rating Representative Cannon received reflects consistent support for conservative principles across a broad range of issues,” said Larry Hart, ACU’s Director of Government Relations. “By comparison, the average score for members of the House for 2007 was 43%. Representative Cannon is someone who grassroots conservatives in Utah and across the country will continue to look to for leadership.”

ACU is America’s oldest and largest grassroots conservative organization. For 37 years, its annual ratings have been widely regarded as the “gold standard,” the definitive conservative assessment of the federal legislative branch. A complete listing of the ACU ratings for this and past congresses can be found at www.acuratings.org

I am proud of my lifetime rating of 96%. In case you were wondering, here are a few others lifetime ratings:

Ron Paul (R-TX) - 82%

Jeff Flake (R-AZ) - 95.4%

Duncan Hunter (R-CA) - 92%

Jim Matheson (D-UT) - 43.7%

I know that many of my fellow Utahns sometimes feel like I am not as conservative as they are because of the way my opponents have misread and misrepresented my record.  Please check out these ratings and others and look at the votes.  If you want to return the Republican Party to its small government roots, then vote for me on June 24th and let’s then work together to ensure other conservatives get elected.  Especially here in Utah.

I recently led House Republicans in an hour long presentation to our colleagues on the availability of oil here in America. Rob Bishop and I highlighted the public lands portion. You can watch the presentation below. This issue needs action and I will stay on this tirelessly.

The American Spectator highlights the Cell Phone Tax Moratorium this morning.

TheWall Street Journal gives credit to Sen. McCain for trying to protect consumers from excessive, confusing, and duplicate taxes on wireless communications, aka mobile phone service. While Mr. McCain must share the credit with Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Chris Cannon, he was indeed the first to press for a halt in the states’ shameless milking of your cell phone bill. His Cell Phone Tax Moratorium Act, introduced in January, proposes a three-year moratorium on new cell phone taxes that unduly burden wireless consumers, compared with other communications services.

This tax moratorium is almost identical to the Conyers-Cannon Internet Tax Moratorium.

While oil shale is found in many places worldwide, by far the largest deposits in the world are found in the United States in the Green River Formation, which covers portions of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Estimates of the oil resource in place within the Green River Formation range from 1.2 to 1.8 trillion barrels. Not all resources in place are recoverable; however, even a moderate estimate of 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil from oil shale in the Green River Formation is three times greater than the proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. Present U.S. demand for petroleum products is about 20 million barrels per day. If oil shale could be used to meet a quarter of that demand, the estimated 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil from the Green River Formation would last for more than 400 years.

Earlier this year, Democrats from New York shut off oil shale development in the west.   The time may have come to reverse that course.  There is between three and five times the amount of oil in Saudi Arabia in western oil shale.  I will introduce legislation that will allow the President to bypass the years and years of regulatory waste and start extracting oil now.  The message sent to OPEC and the world oil speculators will be that America no longer needs your energy and will no longer beg.As I said today, “It is unconscionable that American presidents have to go to Saudi Arabia and beg for more oil. We have been blessed with abundant resources, and we can extract them and use them wisely and safely.”  I firmly believe that.We had an antitrust task force hearing today on gas prices.  Democrats continue to insist that we can conserve our way to low gas prices and that alternative fuels will fuel our cars.  We should get to creating alternative fuels today, but we should do that from a position of energy independence.    

“Democrats have interfered continuously against our efforts to bring down gas prices,” said Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah. “The availability of oil is vast,” he said. Congress should “get out of the way of industry and let them get on with producing oil.” (CNN Today)

The government can offer tax incentives and X-prizes for fuel development.  It is time we use the market and not artificial subsidies like ethanol, to determine our energy future. 

No, not a nicer office. (Most offices in DC are the same size). No, not better committee assignments, although that does sometimes come. No, not more interview requests (the squeaky wheel usually gets the grease, and that isn’t always a good thing).

No, the benefits of seniority is the ability to influence new members about the “Proper Role of Government” - especially when it comes to entitlements. Many would like us all to take a Ron Paul approach and simply vote NO on everything. Others think radical change is needed now before we slip further. I can respect both of those opinions.

I favor a third way. There is much in Washington I want to see changed and am working towards. None is more vital than ending the ever expanding reach of entitlement programs and social welfare systems that are a drain on our pocketbooks and the dreams and aspirations of many. I believe Ezra Taft Benson said it best,

HOW CAN PRESENT SOCIALISTIC TRENDS BE REVERSED?
This brings up the next question: How is it possible to cut out the various welfare-state features of our government which have already fastened themselves like cancer cells onto the body politic? Isn’t drastic surgery already necessary, and can it be performed without endangering the patient? In answer, it is obvious that drastic measures ARE called for. No half-way or compromise actions will suffice. Like all surgery, it will not be without discomfort and perhaps even some scar tissue for a long time to come. But it must be done if the patient is to be saved, and it can be done without undue risk.

Obviously, not all welfare-state programs currently in force can be dropped simultaneously without causing tremendous economic and social upheaval. To try to do so would be like finding oneself at the controls of a hijacked airplane and attempting to return it by simply cutting off the engines in flight. It must be flown back, lowered in altitude, gradually reduced in speed and brought in for a smooth landing. Translated into practical terms, this means that the first step toward restoring the limited concept of government should be to freeze all welfare-state programs at their present level, making sure that no new ones are added. The next step would be to allow all present programs to run out their term with absolutely no renewal. The third step would involve the gradual phasing-out of those programs which are indefinite in their term. In my opinion, the bulk of the transition could be accomplished within a ten-year period and virtually completed within twenty years. Congress would serve as the initiator of this phase-out program, and the President would act as the executive in accordance with traditional constitutional procedures.

This view brings me back to seniority. There are not many radicals in Congress. Radicals tend to get nothing done in an institution designed to be slow and deliberative. Instead, it is the slow, steady, patient, and principled who effect real change. It is not as fast as some may like (it may shock you that I don’t like how long it takes), but if we think back to the time of FDR or 90% marginal tax rates, we have made progress. We have changed the debate, and many of us continue to fight the good fight. I could use more members to help me, including in Utah (especially the 2nd District). But regardless, I will continue to fight to make the change we all want - sometimes not as fast as you would like, and probably not as flashy or well spoken as you would like, but I won’t give up.

The farm bill is summed up nicely by my friend Paul Ryan (R-WI), “This bill is an absence of leadership. This bill shows we are not leading.”  The article is well worth reading.   To see what I and my fellow conservatives work against everyday.  But also to see that I have spent my entire career standing against the grain.  I supported troops on the border long before Bill O’Reilly or Lou Dobbs.  I stood against SCHIP with only two others (Jeff Flake and Tom Tancredo).   I have voted for a balanced budget amendment, line item veto, abolishing the Department of Education, de-funding the UN, and much more.

I agree Congress needs change.  It isn’t always easy standing against the grain (farm bill pun not intended).  But being in Washington doesn’t mean being a part of it.

On the farm bill, too many stood with Washington.  I did not, will not, and have not.

Sometimes we get so caught up in re-election that we gloss over what is really important.  Check this film out - it is well worth your time.