Editing Ed Whitfield (section)

===Committee assignments===
* [[United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce|Committee on Energy and Commerce]]
** [[United States House Energy Subcommittee on Energy and Power|Subcommittee on Energy and Power]] (Chair)
** [[United States House Energy Subcommittee on Environment and Economy|Subcommittee on Environment and Economy]]
** [[United States House Energy Subcommittee on Health|Subcommittee on Health]]

Whitfield was a member of the moderate [[Republican Main Street Partnership]]. On his official website, he represented himself as a conservative who has consistently voted [[anti-abortion]] and "supports allowing students to engage in voluntary school prayer." He also lists military issues and encouraging the continued use of coal and nuclear as an anchor for baseload power to insure the use of an abundant, affordable and reliable source of electricity in the United States. The [[Sunlight Foundation]] reported in 2008 that among the 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Whitfield had the seventh-highest amount of investment in oil stocks.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Sunlight Foundation Blog – Oil Industry Influence: Personal Finances' |date=August 8, 2008 |url=http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2008/08/08/oil-industry-influence-personal-finances/ |publisher=Sunlight Foundation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080812021937/http://blog.sunlightfoundation.com/2008/08/08/oil-industry-influence-personal-finances/ |archive-date=2008-08-12 }} Retrieved on August 8, 2008</ref> Whitfield was co-founder of the United States Turkish Caucus in the United States Congress. Recognizing the important role Turkey plays as the only Muslim Nation in NATO and having had many conversations with commanding generals of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Whitfield thought it was important to form a Congressional entity to provide support for Turkey in its role as a NATO Member.

He was one of three Republicans who voted for the [[Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll009.xml#Y |format=PDF |title=YEAS 247 |publisher=Clerk.house.gov |access-date=2015-04-01}}</ref>

When chairman of the [[United States House Energy Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations|Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations]] within the [[United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce|Committee on Energy and Commerce]], Whitfield held hearings on child pornography and during his tenure as Chairman of Energy and Power has chaired over 40 hearings on energy issues.  He has focused significant time and resources to inform the American people about President Obama's Clean Power Plan which was initiated by regulation through the EPA. President Obama and EPA did not consult or make any effort to work with Congress before issuing the Clean Power Plan to dictate the way electricity would be generated in the future. Chairman Whitfield referred to the Clean Power Plan as "extreme" and an "unprecedented power grab". At one of his hearings, Professor Lawrence Tribe, who teaches constitutional law at Harvard University, said the Clean Power Plan if implemented would be like tearing up the Constitution of the United States. The Supreme Court, in considering a petition filed by 27 states opposed to the Clean Power Plan, issued an injunction to stop implementation of the plan. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals is currently preparing to hear oral arguments on the Clean Power Plan.