U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, one of the more prolific Democrats in the House of Representatives, mocked the GOP and his Republican colleagues during the Oversight Committee’s hearing on gas stoves.
“I want to apologize on behalf of the Democratic Party that we have decided to put kids’ safety, in their neighborhoods from getting gunned down, in movie theaters, or grocery stores, or school churches, or synagogues – we as Democrats have clearly lost our way that we are not focused on appliances,” Congressman Moskowitz said sarcastically in the viral video below.
Officially called, “Consumer Choice on the Backburner: Examining the Biden Administration’s Regulatory Assault on Americans’ Gas Stoves,” Wednesday’s hearing was a magnet for mockery, as some Republicans outright lied about Biden administration’s claims and plans.
Congressman Byron Donalds (R-FL) falsely claimed that the Biden Administration was forcing, or trying to force, Americans to replace their gas stoves with electric ones that don’t cause the type of dangerous air pollution gas stoves in the home do when there is poor air circulation.
“I’m not even joking around, because this thing is stupid,” Rep. Donalds told the committee. “For black and brown communities, the cost of actually having to go out and buy a new appliance, or to retrofit your kitchen is far more dangerous to your bottom line and to your pocketbook. I’m being honest, far more dangerous.”
“What we can’t do are these crazy demands from the Department of Energy and from the EPA,” he said at the end of his diatribe.
None of which is true. DOE and EPA are not mandating gas stoves be banned. What they want is all new construction – new buildings – to not have gas stoves. There’s no requirement to replace your current gas stove, although studies show they can be more dangerous than electric stoves.
In January, Yahoo News reported, “Gas stoves have given 650,000 U.S. children asthma, study finds,” but the GOP quickly dismissed those findings.
In fact, however, studies going back decades have shown gas stoves can be harmful to your health, and your children’s health, especially when there’s inadequate ventilation.
“There is about 50 years of health studies showing that gas stoves are bad for our health, and the strongest evidence is on children and children’s asthma,” the co-author of a study, cited by Bloomberg, said.
Rep. Donalds was responding to Oversight Ranking Democratic member Cori Bush, who told the committee she was there to “discuss climate, the environment, and the very air we breathe – not just gas stoves. I w9sh my Republican colleagues were as concerned about the Black and Brown communities on the front lies of our climate crisis as they are about an appliance.”
“This proposed rule is not a ban on gas stoves,” Bush declared, repeating her remarks. “We are regulating indoor air pollution.”
U.S. Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH) also blasted Republicans: “You know what they are banning? Abortions. You know what they are banning? Books. You know what they won’t ban? Assault weapons, but we are sitting up here talking about a ban on gas stoves.”
Congressman Moskowitz’s remarks, however, went viral.
“You know, and it’s warm, and you’re in the kitchen, and you stare into the knobs of your beautiful stainless steel beauty. I got it, I get the bravado – we can pry your gas stove from your cold dead hands, or, give me my gas stove or give me death,” Rep. Moskowitz said as he mocked House Republicans.
“You know I have a six-burner double oven range that sits on legs. I mean, I miss her, right now, as as we’re talking about it. And, and so I think because it’s a two party system, I think when my colleagues across the aisle, the the other party, show leadership, the leadership of our times that is desperately needed, Democrats like myself, should commend them.”
“And I want to apologize on behalf of the Democratic Party that we have decided to put kids’ safety in their neighborhoods, from getting gunned down in movie theaters or grocery stores or school churches or synagogues, we as Democrats have clearly lost our way that we are not focused on appliances. And so we’re finally seeing our friends across the aisle stand up for parents all across the country as they tuck their kid in at night. As they dress them for school in the morning, as they are worried that they may not come home. My friends across the aisle are telling those parents, you can breathe a sigh of relief that the Grand Appliance Party is going to make sure your gas stove goes nowhere.”
“You, you might own a small business,” he continued, “and you are worried about how you’re going to pay your employees if we default. The good news for you today is that if you have to shutter your business because the country defaults, your gas stove will still be there. And so, you know, I look forward to the legislation of our time the Appliance Bill of Rights that might come in front of this committee.”
The video has been seen over 850,000 times in under six hours.
Watch below or at this link.