Hilda L. Solis: “Enron got away with robbing thousands of pension holders from their life savings, and millions of Americans are watching…”

“Enron got away with robbing thousands of pension holders from their life savings, and millions of Americans are watching us, waiting to see why there is a double standard. Why is it that someone who walks into the local grocery store, who picks up maybe a box of Cracker Jacks gets thrown into jail and the CEOs that rob thousands and millions of people, pensioners and retirees, of their life savings do not have anything going against them. No record, no nothing. They are let off with hardly a scandal. The other thing I want to bring up is, why are we allowing for corporate America to get away with not paying for the pollution that they create in our waters, in particular Superfund sites? I have two Superfund sites in my own district now, and I ask why is it that we are giving them a break to get off the hook? It is not fair for our communities. Why should the consumers and the taxpayers that I represent have to pay for corporate America's mistakes and mishaps? We ought to use a big stick, not a pillow, and we ought to talk big and make punishment real for those people that break the law.”