House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans today touted "job-focused" bills from the last session of Congress, arguing that committee-passed legislation has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Republicans pointed to several measures that would undo recent U.S. EPA regulations, the panel's oversight and investigation into the bankrupt solar company Solyndra's half-billion-dollar loan guarantee and efforts to repeal President Obama's health care reform in their 2011 progress report.

In the midst of an economic recession, Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said, the committee has demonstrated a focus on job creation in the private sector, cutting government spending and the panel's oversight responsibilities.

"A few short years ago, fiscal debates revolved around the question of how much more to spend," Upton said in a statement. "Today, we look at the budget with an eye toward how much we can cut, and how to spend more wisely, with stronger protections for taxpayers."

Upton highlighted more than 100 hearings the committee conducted and its work on 26 pieces of legislation. The report also claims that approximately 5 million jobs "could be at risk" because of the Obama administration's regulatory decisions.

On the environmental front, Energy and Commerce was successful in moving several pieces of legislation that were eventually passed by the House. For example, the House cleared legislation that would have prevented EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions to address climate change (H.R. 910). The committee's report says that bill would protect up to 1.4 million jobs.

The controversial "Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation (TRAIN) Act" (H.R. 2401), which would delay EPA's air toxics rules, also cleared the committee and the full chamber. Similarly, the committee also sought to delay EPA's pollution rules for industrial boilers and incinerators with the "Regulatory Relief Act" (H.R. 2250). That measure also passed the House.

Notably, none of those measures became law, however, because they didn't clear the Senate. Further, many received largely partisan votes, as Democrats protested the committee's direction.

Energy and Commerce ranking member Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) released a report at the end of the last year declaring the Republican-controlled House to be "the most anti-environment House in the history of Congress."

"The House Republican assault on the environment has been reckless and relentless," Waxman said then. "In bill after bill, for one industry after another, the House has been voting to roll back environmental laws and endanger public health. The Republican anti-environment agenda is completely out-of-touch with what the American public wants."

The Republican report today also foreshadows the panel's plans for 2012. Key among them is continued scrutiny of the president's recent rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline. Republicans charge that the $7 billion TransCanada Corp. project to bring Alberta oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries would create as many as 100,000 jobs or more.

Upton has announced a hearing next Wednesday to question Assistant Secretary of State Kerri-Ann Jones about the project (see related story). Further, Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.), who has authored legislation that would place the pipeline under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's jurisdiction instead of the State Department's, predicted earlier this week that his bill could advance within weeks (E&ENews PM, Jan. 18).

Click here for the Energy and Commerce progress report.