Anna Eshoo: “Mr. Chairman, crimes were committed, and we are simply asking for restitution. At this point, 10 Enron executives have…”

“Mr. Chairman, crimes were committed, and we are simply asking for restitution. At this point, 10 Enron executives have pled guilty, 19 others have been charged, and we are waiting for the charges against Ken Lay, the President's single greatest lifetime contributor, which have not yet come forward. During the crisis, Vice President Cheney said the basic problem in California was caused by Californians. He basically said the ratepayers in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California were at fault. I was in a meeting where he said this was nothing but market forces at work. Of course it has now been proven that Enron manipulated the markets. They manipulated the markets on 473 of 537 days of crisis. People in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest and California are paying a great amount more for their electricity today, generated by the same plants, by many of the same companies, transmitted over the same lines because of the market manipulation by Enron. Plain and simple, we want justice. Justice means we should have restitution. That is being denied by the Republican majority. It is being denied by the President's Republican-dominated Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It is being denied by the Republican-led Congress.”