Latham lashes out at Democratic leadership in Congress
FOREST CITY - U.S. Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, lashed out at Democratic leaders of what he called a do-nothing Congress during a stop in Forest City last week.
Latham, who held his annual town-hall meeting at the YMCA, told a small crowd that he was disappointed with the fact that Congress took its traditional August recess without acting on issues like high energy costs and providing disaster relief for Midwestern residents affected by this summer's record flooding.
"What's going on - or more appropriately, what's not going on in Washington, D.C. - is the following," Latham said as he started his opening statement. He then proceeded to talk about the need for a defined energy bill - one that makes Americans less dependent on foreign oil by investing in renewable energy, including nuclear power plants.
"But we have to bridge the gap between now and the 10 to 15 years where we're going to have a lot more options," he said, "and that means drilling offshore ... opening up Alaska."
And that, Latham says, is the rub. He said the Democratic leadership knows that lifting the bans on offshore drilling and in the Alaska wilderness will easily pass muster with both House and Senate members. And that means Congressional leaders have brought the Capitol to a near standstill because Latham said they are afraid that if bills are brought to the floor, they will be amended to include energy initiatives.
- For more on this story, see the August 27 edition of the Summit
Story created Aug 21, 2008 - 12:31:26 CDT.
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