Political Quotes

“I rise, though, in opposition to his view, and I support the view of the Senator of Wyoming and his amendment. I happen to be a cosponsor of it. I think for people looking in, the C-SPAN junkies like ourselves, may wonder what all the charts and all the maps and all the rhetoric might boil down to. In my view, it really boils down to this: Should all power over power be vested within the beltway or should we trust regional organizations that know their areas, that know their systems, to manage these systems? That, in my view, is what this debate is all about. It is very important. There are great implications for how we reliably transmit energy and keep the lights on in the regions of this country. This amendment would ensure that a self-regulating organization would be given the authority to establish and enforce reliability standards. This amendment is supported by the Western Governors' Association, the American Public Power Association, and most of the transmitting utilities of the West. For those in the West who lived through the blackout of August 10, 1996, the need for an enforcement mechanism for transmission reliability standards is clear.”