[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 82 (Wednesday, June 13, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H3079]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          CALIFORNIA DREAMING

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, California's Governor has decided to hire 
high-priced Democrat spin-meisters instead of addressing the emergency 
crisis in his State. Taxpayers will subsidize Mark Fabiani and Chris 
Lehane at $30,000 per month to boost Governor Gray Davis in the media 
as California's energy crisis further drops his poll numbers.
  Instead of repairing California's energy crisis, the Governor is 
using taxpayer dollars to repair his image. This $30,000 in consultant 
fees that will be charged to the taxpayers is more than the Governor 
earns monthly himself. The Governor has had plenty of time to implement 
a solution. He knew over a year ago he had a problem; yet Gray Davis 
has refused to address that problem. He kept putting it off and putting 
it off and putting it off. It becomes blatantly obvious that the 
Governor is more concerned about repairing his image than helping the 
people of his State. Rather than working with the President and the 
White House to help California, the Governor is trying to find ways 
that high-priced PR men can exploit the energy crunch to his advantage.

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