Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, these amendments eliminate as no longer necessary the Federal administrative subsidy for the Southeastern Power Administration, the Southwestern Power Administration and the Western Area Power Administration. These massive energy subsidies amount to what I call unauthorized megamarks. These energy subsidies, that began three decades ago to develop only the West and South, now cost the rest of America billions of dollars. In fact, the Northeast, Florida, the Midwest, the Great Lakes States are heavily subsidizing the power systems of the West and South. I have a map here that kind of shows the parts of America that have a Federal power umbrella and those that don't. And it's really shocking to look at what the utility rates are. In Idaho, with federal energy subsidies, it costs residential consumers $7.98 per kilowatt hour. But guess what, in Ohio, that has no subsidy, it costs those residential consumers $11.34. In Wyoming, with power subsidies, it costs $8.39. But in Connecticut, with no subsidy, it costs those citizens $19.35 a kilowatt hour. To achieve real budget savings, we must address megamark spending, not just district-targeted earmarks, but massive megamarks. These regional Federal power subsidies illustrate the problem. In fact, those subsidies, over only some regions, are privileges that the other regions of our country can't afford anymore. These regions have outlived their welcome in terms of subsidy.…”