IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 398 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Green New 
Deal is antithetical to the principles of free market capitalism and 
private property rights, is simply a thinly veiled attempt to usher in 
policies that create a socialist society in America, and is impossible 
to fully implement. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 22, 2019 
Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. BYRNE, Mr. OLSON, Mr. YOHO, 
Mr. GROTHMAN, Mr. DUNCAN, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mr. CARTER of Texas, 
Mr. FLORES, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. BARR, Mr. HUIZENGA, Mr. DAVID P. 
ROE of Tennessee, Mr. HICE of Georgia, Mr. ABRAHAM, Mr. BUDD, Mr. 
WALKER, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. WATKINS, Mr. STEUBE, Mr. PALAZZO, 
Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. STEWART, Mr. GOSAR, Mr. 
NEWHOUSE, Mr. MOONEY of West Virginia, Mr. BABIN, Mr. KEVIN 
HERN of Oklahoma, Mr. RIGGLEMAN, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. ESTES, Mr. 
FLEISCHMANN, Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, 
Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. CLOUD, Mr. BANKS, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. 
WALBERG, Mr. SCALISE, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. 
WRIGHT, Mr. GREEN of Tennessee, Mr. DAVIDSON of Ohio, Mr. GIBBS, 
Mr. DESJARLAIS, Mr. BROOKS of Alabama, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. 
MITCHELL, Mr. LOUDERMILK, and Mr. DUNN) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com-
merce, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Reform, 
Science, Space, and Technology, Education and Labor, Transportation 
and Infrastructure, Agriculture, Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, Fi-
nancial Services, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
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•HRES 398 IH 
the Green New Deal is antithetical to the principles 
of free market capitalism and private property rights, 
is simply a thinly veiled attempt to usher in policies 
that create a socialist society in America, and is impos-
sible to fully implement. 
Whereas, on February 7, 2019, Representative Alexandria 
Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Edward Markey introduced 
H. Res. 109 and S. Res. 59, respectively, resolutions rec-
ognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a 
Green New Deal; 
Whereas, on March 26, 2019, the Senate voted to invoke clo-
ture on the motion to proceed to S. J. Res. 8, a joint res-
olution containing the text of the Green New Deal; 
Whereas the recorded vote on the cloture motion for S. J. 
Res. 8 failed with the sponsor and cosponsors of S. Res. 
59 and all other Democrats voting ‘‘present’’; 
Whereas the cost of implementing the Green New Deal, while 
difficult to accurately estimate due to the lack of a coher-
ent framework, is— 
(1) estimated by the American Action Forum to 
total as high as $93 trillion over 10 years; and 
(2) estimated by the American Enterprise Institute 
to total approximately $9 trillion annually; 
Whereas the previously published Frequently Asked Ques-
tions document for the Green New Deal (in this resolu-
tion referred to as the ‘‘FAQ document’’) acknowledges 
that the combined resources of every billionaire and com-
pany are insufficient to cover the cost of the Green New 
Deal; 
Whereas the Green New Deal’s goal of meeting 100 percent 
of the power demand in the United States through re-
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•HRES 398 IH 
newable energy resources within 10 years is likely techno-
logically impossible because— 
(1) while fossil fuel power generation can be in-
creased or decreased based on consumer demand, renew-
able energy resources are dependent on environmental 
conditions beyond human control; 
(2) according to the Energy Information Adminis-
tration, the energy efficiency or capacity factor ratio of 
wind and solar electricity generation are 35 percent and 
26 percent, respectively, while the energy efficiency of nu-
clear, coal, and natural gas electricity generation are 92 
percent, 54 percent, and 51 percent, respectively; and 
(3) according to the Heartland Institute, the Green 
New Deal would require the mining of tons of minerals 
that are not currently produced in quantities that would 
satisfy such an expansion of renewable energy resources; 
Whereas the Green New Deal’s goal of meeting 100 percent 
of the power demand in the United States through re-
newable energy resources within 10 years is likely fiscally 
impossible because— 
(1) the intermittency of wind and solar electricity 
generation necessitate a vast expansion of storage infra-
structure, and, according to the MIT Technology Review, 
a battery system that provides just 12 hours of electricity 
storage throughout the United States would cost more 
than $2.5 trillion; 
(2) according to the American Action Forum, the 
capital expenditures to transition to 100 percent renew-
able electricity production could cost the United States at 
least $5.7 trillion, which, based on estimates from the 
International Food Policy Research Institute, the World 
Bank, and the Economist, is enough money to simulta-
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•HRES 398 IH 
neously end world hunger for 20 years, provide clean 
water to the entire world, and end malaria; 
(3) according to the American Action Forum, oper-
ating expenses for wind turbine and solar panel mainte-
nance and operation would cost $387 billion annually; 
and 
(4) according to the American Action Forum, the 
average amount of energy bills would increase between 
$576 and $3,882 per year, resulting in widespread en-
ergy poverty; 
Whereas according to the United Kingdom Office for Na-
tional Statistics, cold indoor temperatures are associated 
with excess winter deaths, contributing to an estimated 
50,100 excess winter deaths in the 2017 to 2018 winter 
period; 
Whereas the Green New Deal’s goal of meeting 100 percent 
of the power demand in the United States through re-
newable energy resources within 10 years would have se-
verely detrimental impacts to the environment and wild-
life because— 
(1) according to the American Enterprise Institute, 
the need for solar panel and wind turbine expansion 
would require over 115 million of acres of land, which is 
15 percent larger than the land area of California; 
(2) solar farms incinerate thousands of birds each 
year, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, and accord-
ing to a report published by the Wildlife Society Bulletin, 
wind turbines were estimated to have killed 573,000 
birds and 880,000 bats in 2012 alone; and 
(3) under the Obama administration, the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service finalized a rule allowing wind energy 
companies to avoid penalties for the slaughter of golden 
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•HRES 398 IH 
eagles and up to 4,200 bald eagles that would have other-
wise violated the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act 
and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act; 
Whereas according to a report published by the College of 
Family Physicians of Canada, the adverse health effects 
for those living near wind turbines includes sleep disturb-
ance, headaches, anxiety, depression, and cognitive dys-
function; 
Whereas the FAQ document sets a goal to replace every com-
bustion-engine vehicle in the United States, which, ac-
cording to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, would 
require replacing the majority of— 
(1) almost 270 million cars; 
(2) nearly 12 million boats; 
(3) over 130,000 transit vehicles; and 
(4) almost 27,000 trains; 
Whereas the FAQ document sets a goal to build out high- 
speed rail infrastructure at a scale where air travel stops 
becoming necessary, which, according to the American 
Action Forum, would cost between $1.1 and $2.5 trillion 
and require the construction of 19,453 miles of track; 
Whereas the Green New Deal’s goal of upgrading all existing 
buildings to achieve maximum energy and water effi-
ciency within 10 years is likely impossible because the 
United States has— 
(1) almost 100 million residential buildings; 
(2) approximately 140,000 schools; 
(3) over 306,000 Federal Government buildings; and 
(4) approximately 384,000 churches; 
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•HRES 398 IH 
Whereas the Green New Deal calls for Federal subsidies and 
intervention in the private marketplace, which tend to 
distort economic activity and disincentivize innovation; 
Whereas the Green New Deal and the FAQ document call for 
the enactment of policies with no semblance of a connec-
tion to emissions or climate change, including— 
(1) providing ‘‘free’’ college to all Americans, which 
the American Enterprise Institute estimates will cost at 
least $70 billion per year; 
(2) providing Government health care to all Ameri-
cans, which the Committee for a Responsible Federal 
Budget estimates would cost $28 trillion over a decade; 
and 
(3) providing economic security for those ‘‘unwill-
ing’’ to work; 
Whereas socialism and communism rely upon dictatorships 
that deny freedoms enjoyed by all Americans, including 
freedom of speech, a free press, free assembly, free and 
open elections, due process, and a free and independent 
judiciary; and 
Whereas in the 20th century alone, socialist and communist 
regimes were responsible for the deaths of over 100 mil-
lion men, women, and children: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) the Green New Deal would violate all Amer-
icans’ right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi-
ness; 
(2) the Green New Deal would have an almost 
incomprehensibly devastating effect on the national 
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debt of the United States, and no collection of rev-
enue-raising measures could pay for its implementa-
tion without completely destroying the economy and 
societal fabric of the United States; 
(3) the Green New Deal is antithetical to the 
principles of free market capitalism and our private 
property rights, bedrock principles that have made 
the United States the greatest country in the world; 
(4) many of the proposals in the Green New 
Deal have no connection at all to climate change, 
and reveal the true nature of the Green New Deal; 
(5) the Green New Deal is simply a thinly 
veiled attempt to usher in policies that create a so-
cialist society in America; and 
(6) the United States is a free society that has 
fought against socialist regimes for decades and 
must continue to fight against socialism in the fu-
ture. 
Æ 
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