David Thomas: “I take a moment to comment again on the pending amendment. It has been mentioned several times this was in our bill last…”

“I take a moment to comment again on the pending amendment. It has been mentioned several times this was in our bill last year; that is true. I supported it; that is true. But we have to understand how we got in that situation. First of all, we had come to the floor without having the committee work on the bill at all last year. This is quite a different situation where we quietly and completely have gone through the bill. I also have to say my friend from New Mexico had quite a stronger statement and I had a less strong statement than what is in here. We agreed to a compromise. So it is not the way I would have done it had I had my way, but we wanted to move something. In any event, that is the way we came to have that language. We are talking about consumer protection. We get all tied up in some of these terms, but the fact is we are seeking to put authority there for someone to oversee. What we want to do, of course, is to have FERC do it without an expansion of authority. So we are saying in the language of the bill, no public utility shall, without first securing the order of the commission authorizing it to do so, sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of facilities; to merge or consolidate, directly or indirectly, such facilities or any part thereof; purchase, acquire, take any security over $10 million. It is very clear. That is what we do under the bill as it now is drafted.”