Nancy Pelosi: “It is very unfortunate, Mr. Chairman, that while there may be 30 perhaps, the gentleman has not told us an exact figure…”

“It is very unfortunate, Mr. Chairman, that while there may be 30 perhaps, the gentleman has not told us an exact figure, but I respect the fact that he will get that information to us, authorizations protected by the rule for this bill, that the majority has chosen to ignore a crisis in California and the western States, our western region as our amendment addresses the West. This is an emergency for us. Our energy costs have increased 10 times, into the tens of billions of dollars as I mentioned. Hundreds of thousands of disabled people depending on access to energy at all times cannot tolerate rolling blackouts or any other kind, including the high cost of energy. It will have an impact on the credit rating of our State which has now surpassed France as an economy in the world. California has surpassed France as an economy, and we are going to be cavalier about the impact that has on our country and that small businesses and homeowners and residences and all the rest will carry this tremendous burden. It seems to me our Republican colleagues want to play the blame game instead of trying to find a solution to this problem. No matter how you describe it, the fact is that the suppliers have exploited the market by withholding power to drive up the prices to exploit the consumer. You cannot deny that, as many places as you want to place the blame. The fact is that we have had tremendous growth in our economy in the West.”