[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 73 (Thursday, May 24, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H2684]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PRESIDENT BUSH SHOULD STOP SUPPORTING BIG OIL AND SUPPORT THE AMERICAN 
                                 PEOPLE

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, the chairman of the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, hand-picked by President George Bush, Mr. 
Hebert, has chosen to turn a blind eye toward the price gouging and 
market manipulation which is enriching a few huge energy companies, 
several of which happen to be based in Houston, Texas, at the expense 
of tens of millions of people in the Western United States.
  It is not only Californians who are suffering. We are paying a higher 
average price in the wholesale market in Oregon and Washington than 
they are in California, and it is not necessary. It is manipulated.
  Let us look at one company, Reliant Power. Profits up by 1,800 
percent in one year. Is that not grand, from $27 million to $482 
million. But on Sunday, the San Francisco Chronicle revealed that they 
are blatantly manipulating the market. They have phone lines between 
their traders and their trade rooms and their plant operators in 
California, and when the price of energy drops, they shut the plants 
off and turn the lights out.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. DeFAZIO. And then when the price skyrockets, they turn them back 
on. They are destroying the plants, they are destroying the economy, 
and the Bush administration and their hand-picked chair of the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission are refusing to take the actions required 
under the law to stop unjust and unreasonable price gouging and market 
manipulation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. DeFAZIO. It is past time for the Bush administration to stop 
supporting the energy companies and support the American people.

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