[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 22271]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                          ENERGY DEREGULATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, as things are cooling off here in 
Washington and the temperature of the city is dropping, to the relief 
of the local communities, back in San Diego things are heating up. And 
sadly, they are heating up not because of the weather but because of 
the inappropriate action of Government and the inaction of those who 
should be taking care of their constituents.
  A few years ago, the State legislature of the State of California 
tried an experiment called energy deregulation, at the same time that 
those of us in the Congress were working on deregulation of 
telecommunications. But unlike what we did successfully here in 
Washington, the State did not assure competition, access, and 
infrastructure for the energy consumers of San Diego County, and soon 
to be the entire State of California.
  Now, it may seem like a political comment to say that, when 
politicians make mistakes, terrible things happen. But I think too 
often some of our elected officials do not consider the impact on the 
real people in the community who are out there doing the great things 
that we take for granted.
  Mr. Speaker, I am in a sad position tonight to announce that an 
institution in my district in Pacific Beach, a landmark that has been 
there for 54 years, is going to close because the State legislature of 
the State of California passed a so-called energy deregulation bill 
that is now causing electric power rates to rise to such astronomical 
levels that small businesses are going bankrupt.
  The small business I am speaking of is DeVaney's Bakery in Pacific 
Beach. It has been a bakery that has been around since 1946. It has 
been a family-owned business that has served not only the local 
community but the entire sub-region of the coastal area that we call 
San Diego.
  It is sad to see that Sacramento adjourned, Mr. Speaker, this year 
before they addressed this absolutely critical economic and social 
crisis in San Diego, which is soon to spread throughout the State of 
California. I would hope that the speaker and every Member of this 
Congress would join with me in asking that we try to work together here 
to do what we can to save the constituency and the citizens of San 
Diego County, and soon to be California, from this horrendous mistake 
by the State legislature.
  Mr. Speaker, it took a bipartisan effort in Sacramento to create this 
disaster that is closing down this landmark in Pacific Beach.

                              {time}  2000

  I would ask us here in Washington to step forward and make a 
bipartisan effort to save businesses throughout San Diego County and 
California from the devastating effect of this legislative mistake in 
Sacramento. So I ask us to learn from this tragedy of DeVaney's Bakery 
and let us work together at trying to see what we can do to protect the 
constituents from Sacramento's mistake. I hope we do not find excuses 
to walk away before we can address this issue. It is sad that 
Sacramento did that. I would ask us, both Democrats and Republicans, to 
work together. I hope I am not here next week announcing the next 
business that had to go under.
  I would remind Mr. Speaker that this is not just a San Diego problem. 
San Diego and California has been a driving force at generating revenue 
for this Federal Government that has constituted what we call the 
surplus. If we do not address this power crisis in San Diego, it will 
not only spread throughout California, it could severely hurt the 
entire Nation's ability to continue the economic prosperity that so 
many of us in elective office want to point to and take credit.
  Now the challenge is, will we rise to protect this economic recovery 
by addressing this government problem that was created in Sacramento 
and may only be corrected now by working together to protect the 
consumers, the taxpayers, the citizens and, yes, even small businesses 
like DeVaney's Bakery that has been around so long and will not be 
around tomorrow because of mistakes that have been made by others, but 
that we must address.

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