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Scalise Protests Congressional Vacation

August 7, 2008

Washington, DC -- Congressman Steve Scalise today joined House Republicans in Washington D.C. to protest the five-week Congressional vacation. They are demanding House Leadership to reconvene and bring up a vote to address the nation’s energy crisis. This morning Scalise joined his Republican colleagues at a press conference outside the House floor.

“When Americans face a crisis, they don’t take a five-week vacation; they go to work and find solutions. That is what Congress needs to do,” Scalise said. “Throughout our nation’s history we’ve had many challenges and many crises, and each one we looked in the eye and dealt with here in the U.S. House of Representatives. Many people are cancelling their summer vacations because the price of gas is too high, yet House Speaker Pelosi thought it was more important to take a five-week vacation rather than dealing with this national energy crisis.”

Following a press conference, Scalise led the House Chamber in the Pledge of Allegiance on the House floor that was packed full of visitors from around the country in an unprecedented demonstration to call on Congress to end their recess and reconvene.

“The overwhelming majority of people at my Town Hall meeting last night agreed that Congress should be addressing the nation’s energy crisis rather than taking a vacation,” Scalise said. “We have solutions and they are all on the table. The liberal leadership needs to come back to Washington so we can debate these solutions to our nation’s energy crisis and have a vote in the House. The time for Congress to act is now.”

Last night Scalise held an Energy Town Hall meeting in Mandeville to hear from the people of Louisiana how the high price of gas is negatively affecting their lives.

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Contact: Luke Bolar
202-226-4309