Mike Rogers: Economy taxing on our laborers

Mike Rogers
Guest Columnist
Published: August 26, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. —With Labor Day around the corner, many hard working folks across East Alabama are looking forward to a day of rest.

Unfortunately, Labor Day this year is shaping up a little differently. With record-breaking gas prices and unemployment in our state on the rise, folks are hurting.

July’s unemployment rate, 5.1 percent, shows the increasing struggles so many folks are enduring.

On top of that, the Labor Department reported this week the inflation rate rose to 5.6 percent, caused in large part by the skyrocketing rise in energy costs. That means everything costs more, from groceries to clothing.

So with Labor Day and our struggling economy on folks’ minds, the question is what can Congress get done to help East Alabama’s workers?

Earlier in the year, Congress gave a helping hand to those who have lost their jobs. I was proud to support that bill, which extended unemployment benefits for another 13 weeks.

To help folks struggling to keep their homes, Congress passed a bill providing some relief.

It wasn’t a perfect bill, but it was a reasonable compromise for helping stabilize the housing market.

Nothing, though, is hurting every single one of us more than high gas prices. On that front, I remain deeply disappointed that Congress has not acted to ease some of the pain at the pump.

Recently I traveled back to Washington to fight for a proposal that could provide some relief from high gas prices.

Increased exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and offshore won’t solve our energy independence challenge, but it will help while our nation increases production of American-made renewable fuels.

Congress should never have left town without voting on this common sense solution, especially when Americans and East Alabamians are hurting.

When Congress returns in September I am hopeful it will act on a number of energy solutions.

For example my energy bill, the free Act, would help increase domestic energy supplies by lifting the ban on environmentally safe energy exploration in ANWR.

It would also increase the production of American-made renewable fuels and direct federal royalties and taxes collected from ANWR drilling into a new Energy Independence Trust Fund.

Much more needs to be done to help strengthen our economy. We won’t become energy independent overnight, and folks who have lost their jobs won’t find new work immediately.

But Congress needs to act, not talk. As Labor Day approaches this year, let’s all hope Congress does its part. As always, please contact me at any of my district offices or at http://www.house.gov/mike-rogers.

Mike Rogers is a U.S. Congressman representing Alabama’s Third District.