Bob Filner: “I will tell my colleagues, we are a year into an incredible crisis on the West Coast; and yet, the majority party of…”

“I will tell my colleagues, we are a year into an incredible crisis on the West Coast; and yet, the majority party of this House has not allowed a debate on this issue. We have not been granted any amendments; we have not been granted any bills. I wrote to the Speaker weeks ago saying, let us have an up or down vote on these issues, of whether we should have cost-based rates on the West Coast, on whether we should have refunds of criminal overcharges. All we are asking is for a debate on this issue and a discussion and a vote. We cannot get it from this party. So we have had to use issues that come up in other bills to make our point. Our point has been made and we are going to keep making it until we get it addressed. We are paying double and triple charges on the West Coast for our electricity, not because that is what the market, the free market gave us, that is because that is what a manipulated market gave us. We have been paying those bills for a year; we have been overcharged between $10 billion and $20 billion, and we want a refund on those overcharges.”