[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 74 (Friday, May 25, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H2716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE REAL ISSUE AT HAND IS ENERGY

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Madam Speaker, today is a very important day. The one-
party government in the United States is done. We had a vote of 
confidence in the other body today or yesterday and we are now back to 
two party government, and maybe, just maybe, we can get back to the 
issues the people really care about.
  We are hanging around here today because we cannot seem to get the 
President's tax bill through. They cannot figure out how to give it all 
to the rich.
  At the same time, we are failing to deal with energy. Now, the energy 
prices in my district, in Seattle, are facing a potential 250 percent 
increase from the Bonneville Power Administration. The estimates are 
that 102,000 jobs are at risk and that a whole quarter of a million 
jobs in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana are at risk because of 
the runaway gouging costs of energy in the northwest.
  Seattle City Light has already raised it 30 percent and it is coming 
up another 30 percent. When will we get down to the issues that 
matters?

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