II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1324 

To prohibit any regulations promulgated pursuant to a presidential memorandum relating to power sector carbon pollution standards from taking 

effect. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2013 

Mr. BARRASSO (for himself, Mr. ENZI, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. ALEXANDER, Mr. 

PAUL, Mr. BLUNT, Mrs. FISCHER, and Mr. CRAPO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To prohibit any regulations promulgated pursuant to a presidential memorandum relating to power sector carbon pollution standards from taking effect. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Energy Tax 

5 Repeal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

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1 (1) on June 25, 2013, President Obama issued 

2 a Presidential memorandum directing the Adminis3 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency to 

4 issue regulations relating to power sector carbon pol5 lution standards for existing coal fired power plants; 

6 (2) the issuance of that memorandum cir7 cumvents Congress and the will of the people of the 

8 United States; 

9 (3) any action to control emissions of green10 house gases from existing coal fired power plants in 

11 the United States by mandating a national energy 

12 tax would devastate major sectors of the economy, 

13 cost thousands of jobs, and increase energy costs for 

14 low-income households, small businesses, and seniors 

15 on fixed income; 

16 (4) joblessness increases the likelihood of hos17 pital visits, illnesses, and premature deaths; 

18 (5) according to testimony on June 15, 2011, 

19 before the Committee on Environment and Public 

20 Works of the Senate by Dr. Harvey Brenner of 

21 Johns Hopkins University, ‘‘The unemployment rate 

22 is well established as a risk factor for elevated illness 

23 and mortality rates in epidemiological studies per24 formed since the early 1980s. In addition to influ25 ences on mental disorder, suicide and alcohol abuse 

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1 and alcoholism, unemployment is also an important 

2 risk factor in cardiovascular disease and overall de3 creases in life expectancy.’’; 

4 (6) according to the National Center for Health 

5 Statistics, ‘‘children in poor families were four times 

6 as likely to be in fair or poor health as children that 

7 were not poor’’; 

8 (7) any major decision that would cost the 

9 economy of the United States millions of dollars and 

10 lead to serious negative health effects for the people 

11 of the United States should be debated and explicitly 

12 authorized by Congress, not approved by a Presi13 dential memorandum or regulations; and 

14 (8) any policy adopted by Congress should 

15 make United States energy as clean as practicable, 

16 as quickly as practicable, without increasing the cost 

17 of energy for struggling families, seniors, low-income 

18 households, and small businesses. 

19 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

20 (1) to ensure that— 

21 (A) a national energy tax is not imposed 

22 on the economy of the United States; and 

23 (B) struggling families, seniors, low-income 

24 households, and small businesses do not experimstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 ence skyrocketing electricity bills and jobless2 ness; 

3 (2) to protect the people of the United States, 

4 particularly families, seniors, and children, from the 

5 serious negative health effects of joblessness; 

6 (3) to allow sufficient time for Congress to de7 velop and authorize an appropriate mechanism to 

8 address the energy needs of the United States and 

9 the potential challenges posed by severe weather; 

10 and 

11 (4) to restore the legislative process and con12 gressional authority over the energy policy of the 

13 United States. 

14 SEC. 3. PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM. 

15 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the head 

16 of a Federal agency shall not promulgate any regulation 

17 relating to power sector carbon pollution standards or any 

18 substantially similar regulation on or after June 25, 2013, 

19 unless that regulation is explicitly authorized by an Act 

20 of Congress. 

Æ 

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