Mr. HENSARLING. Madam Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule IX, I hereby notify the House of my intention to offer a resolution as a question of the privileges of the House.

The form of my resolution is as follows: Whereas the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Hensarling--along with the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Conaway, the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. Gingrey, and the gentlewoman from Tennessee, Mrs. Blackburn--submitted an amendment to the Committee on Rules to H.R. 3288, the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act; Whereas the said gentleman's amendment would have encouraged the development and use of alternative fuels by the federal government from resources found abundantly in the United States and Canada such as oil sands and oil shale, furthering our ability to become more energy independent, reducing the federal government's energy costs borne by the American taxpayer; Whereas, this is especially important at a time of a record deficit that has reached $1 trillion for the first time in American history and a record debt that will be tripled in 10 years; Whereas, the said amendment could help in the creation of desperately needed jobs in an economy where the unemployment rate is 9.5%--the highest unemployment rate in 26 years and climbing--and 2.6 million people have lost their job since February 2009; Whereas, when campaigning for the presidency, then-Senator Obama said that ``under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily sky rocket.''; Whereas, on June, 26, 2009, the Democratic Majority passed such legislation in H.R. 2454, a national energy tax also known as cap and trade, that experts have estimated will result in American families paying anywhere from $1,500 to $3,000 annually in additional energy costs; Whereas, on December 6, 2006, then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, ``[W]e promised the American people that we would have the most honest and open government and we will.''; Whereas, according to then-Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's New Direction for America, ``Bills should generally come to the floor [Page: H8592] under a procedure that allows open, full, and fair debate consisting of a full amendment process that grants the Minority the right to offer its alternatives, including a substitute.''; Whereas a similar amendment was adopted by the House in 2008 during consideration of H.R. 6599, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2009 on a bipartisan vote; Whereas the gentleman's amendment complied with all applicable Rules of the House for amendments to appropriations measures and would have been in order under an open amendment process, but regrettably the House Democratic leadership has dramatically breached decades of House precedent and historically reduced the opportunity for open debate on this Floor; and Whereas the Speaker, Mrs. Pelosi, the Democratic leadership, and the chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, Mr. Obey, prevented the House from voting on the amendment by excluding it from the list of amendments made in order under the rule for the bill: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That H. Res. 669, the rule to accompany H.R. 3288, be amended to allow the gentleman from Texas' amendment be considered and voted on in the House.