Political Quotes

“Madam President, with the addition of those three Senators, the other cosponsors on the amendment are Senators Murkowski, Reid from Nevada, Brownback, Cantwell, Wyden, Cornyn, and Corker. The amendment preserves the existing authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the authority of the States to be sure that electricity and natural gas rates are just and reasonable, while at the same time leaving the Commodity Futures Trading Commission its full authority to police derivatives and futures markets. First, I applaud the good work Senator Dodd and Senator Shelby have done on this bill. I particularly applaud the provisions that have come from Senators Lincoln and Chambliss and the Agriculture Committee in setting up a system to get control of derivatives markets. I am, however, concerned that without this amendment, the law could be interpreted to allow the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to override the jurisdiction the Congress has given to the FERC and that the new provisions included here could make this problem worse. There is probably not a sector of the economy that is more tightly regulated than the electricity industry. The natural gas industry is not far behind for a claim to that title. FERC regulates wholesale rates and transportation in interstate commerce for both electricity and gas and must approve mergers of utilities.…”