WASHINGTON, D.C.---U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued the following statement in response to the President’s letter to Congress which called for tax-hikes on the American energy producers:

"The President called on Congress to increase taxes on American energy producers in an attempt to distract from his failure to put forward a realistic energy agenda.  We’ve sadly seen this page from his playbook before, but the American people won’t be fooled by such stale and empty rhetoric.  Tax hikes on domestic energy producers will yield higher prices as the pump for consumers in the long run and further impede our nation’s ability to achieve energy security and independence.  In my home state of Utah, this Administration has gone to war against domestic production – locking up abundant energy resources that would keep our energy costs down. With the economy rattled by unstable energy costs and still recovering from one of the worst economic downturns in a generation, we should instead advance policies that will that will lower the cost of energy, by finding more and using less, that is so essential to creating jobs."