Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez Discusses Right to Repair at Energy and Commerce Committee Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Friday, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) joined the House Energy and Commerce Committee Member Day hearing to discuss the importance of passing federal Right to Repair legislation.

“I wanted to talk a little bit today about a subject that will not surprise you, Right to Repair. It’s one of the primary reasons that I ran for office. I ran an auto repair and machine shop with my husband before coming here. And a lot of us feel in this country that we are being turned into a class of permanent renters without the agency to fix our own stuff, to be actual stewards of the things that we rely on,” said Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez.

She went on to say, “And so do not turn the American country into a nation of beggars petitioning for their right to fix their own stuff. Affirm that we are a nation of people who make things, who are skilled and believe in agency, affirm the rights that we’ve always had. Because time is running out on this issue.”

Click HERE to watch.

Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez has long advocated for the federal government to pass Right to Repair legislation across sectors. Last month, she introduced the bipartisan FARM Act, which would require farm equipment manufacturers to make certain documentation, parts, software, and tools widely available – affirming farmers’ agency and right to repair their own equipment.

She also introduced the bipartisan Warrior Right to Repair Act of 2025in September, which would ensure that members of the U.S. military have the agency and material support they need to repair and maintain the equipment they rely on and the REPAIR Act this past February, which would ensure vehicle owners have access to important repair and diagnostic data needed for auto repairs.

Full transcript of the Congresswoman’s remarks in committee below :

Thank you everybody. Thank you, Ranking Member Pallone for having me. And I wanted to talk a little bit today about a subject that will not surprise you, Right to Repair. It’s one of the primary reasons that I ran for office. And you know, I ran an auto repair and machine shop with my husband before coming here. And you know, a lot of us feel in this country that we are being turned into a class of permanent renters without the agency to fix our own stuff, to be, to be actual stewards of the things that we rely on.

And it’s why I support the REPAIR Act. Tort law going back to the 1400s affirms that when you buy something, you have the right to fix it and to have the tools and the access. 

You often have, like, staff kind of help prepare remarks, and they, they kind of talk about how there are so many mechanics willing and ready, and that’s true. But I also want to urge that this is, there’s a long tail effect here if we do not affirm that you’re able to have your car fixed, or fix your car yourself, or your tractor or your washing machine, any of these things, you will see a slow, you know, hollowing out of the industry. You will see mechanics choose, you know, younger mechanics choosing not to go into this field because they have been so winnowed out of the authorized dealership repair track. 

And you know, if you’re a young mechanic, and you’re thinking about how you’re going to start a business, you’re going to think about a neighborhood. You’re thinking about the rigs that are in a neighborhood or in a community. You’re not just going to try and make a living serving Toyotas or Fords or whatever it is from the last five years, those are always going to go to the dealership, and you will see a real loss of agency in the trades. 

The reason that so many young people today are seeing the trades as a viable career path for, you know, having agency in their lives is because they’re able to work across many manufacturers. And as we see this march towards, you know, monopolies, duopolies, whatever it is, you’re going to see people choose to stay out of this, and that’s why we need action now. We cannot wait for this, which brings me a little bit into a sort of tangential issue, which is, we saw such a crisis with chips, and a real demand to have more chips. But we didn’t ask ourselves, why? Why the demand for chips has gone up so much? Did anyone ask for a washing machine that plays Tchaikovsky? They did not. My washing machine is from 1997. Think about how much wealth that’s created. The average appliance today, I think the data is like life expectancy of three years. And so do not turn the American country into a nation of beggars petitioning for their right to fix their own stuff. Affirm that we are a nation of people who make things, who are skilled and believe in agency, affirm the rights that we’ve always had.

Because time is running out on this issue. 

And I’d also like to point out that when you only have the manufacturer approved dealerships and shops working on these cars, there is no independent check on the material quality. And I have seen, everyone who’s touched a car can tell you that, like the gauge on a wire, harnessing is shrinking and shrinking, and you’re seeing more failures, and without having independent shops having access to those materials, to those vehicles, there’s no outside check on material quality and saying, Hey, look, I wouldn’t buy that car. I wouldn’t keep going with this manufacturer, because they are shortchanging you on the actual physical material quality of the car.

One thing that I think a lot of Americans have affirmed is that headlights are too damn bright. This is a serious problem. When you look at the old halogen lights, like they max out around I think it’s 600 lumens. The new LEDs, it’s like they can go up to like, 12,000 lumens. They are blinding. And not only that, I used to be able to do headlights for, like, literally, my cost for a light bulb was six bucks, four bucks. Now these new, like, these new headlight assemblies are like $1,200 repair, and it is nickel and diming the middle class out of existence. So not only  to affirm the right to repair, to actually work on these, and not just have, you know, be a part swapper, but actually be able to repair and this is a serious environmental impact when we’re not able to actually get in, it’s a serious risk to life and safety when we’re not able to see after another car has passed us. You know, all these little clips are just failing, and you can’t properly adjust them, or they don’t stay adjusted. And for headlights, the standards have not changed since before I was born. They’ve not changed since 1985 and it’s something that we all see. 

And I think part of the way that you depolarize the nation is by saying actually we are living in the same water as you. We are going to address the issues and prove our utility. So thank you for your time. Thank you for your attention. Sincerely. 

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