June 25, 2004

Washington, DC -- Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, made the following statement on the House floor today in support of H.R. 4614, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for FY 2005.

"Madam Chairman, I thank all of my colleagues that have fought so hard and so courageously for 4 years.

"Madam Chairman, this is an issue about greed, greed gone absolutely wild; and the victims of the greed, this insatiable greed for money, money, money, money, money, are the people of my State of California, the people of the Sate of Washington, the people of the State of Oregon, the people of the State of Nevada.

"I have heard some really outrageous things here today. You, my friends, have been given the power by the people of the United States of America to hold the majority here. For 4 years we have fought. Not one hearing was even granted in the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

"We have presented solutions for the restitution to our people, for refunds, and have been denied over and over and over again. So there has not only been an abuse of power by the power companies, but by the majority party in this House.

"Now we have come forward and requested last evening at the Committee on Rules that all points be waived in order to present an amendment for refunds. That was denied. Now the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson) has allowed this limited amendment that we now have on the floor.

"Make no mistake, not one Republican from the State of California supported in 4 years a refund to our people. This legislation has been there. We have sent Dear Colleague letters. I will not yield, because I waited 4 years for this moment, and this is for our constituents. They have not used their power to bring about restitution to them.

"How much more evidence do you need? You have heard the tapes. It is not just about being upset about the evidence. It is up to us, those who have been vested with the power, to do something on behalf of the consumer. It is not enough to say our constituents have been hurt. Use the power. Use the power to override the power of the power companies that manipulated, that extracted, and then bragged about it.

"Shame on anyone that would not stand next to the grandmother that these people referred to and were so gleeful about picking her pockets. Shame on them. Shame on anyone that does not fight every day to make good for these people.

"These are extraordinary, ordinary people of our country. That is who we stand next to. We invite you to finally do something, to take one tiny step, if you have it in you, to do that.

"The White House turned us down, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission turned us down, the chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce turned us down over and over and over again.

"So I say to those that stand next to the consumer, no matter how frustrating, no matter how dark it has been, let us do something about it. We have had the solution. We come forward now with a very small one.

"I thank everyone that has been part of the effort. You have been absolutely magnificent. And I am proud to serve with those that, even in the worst of times, sought to do something about it. It is what people sent us here for. Do not forget that. That is what our power is for. Not for Enron, not for Reliant, not for people that commit criminal activities against those that send us here to stand up for them.

"Madam Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Hobson) for allowing this to be brought to the floor and debated."

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