Jay Inslee: “I came tonight to the floor of the House to address an outrage, perhaps the largest fraudulent activity in American…”

“I came tonight to the floor of the House to address an outrage, perhaps the largest fraudulent activity in American history which has resulted in literally billions of dollars being stolen from American ratepayers for electricity in the western United States. And this, of course, is the outright theft from West Coast ratepayers by the Enron Corporation. And I have come to the floor tonight because, unfortunately, the energy bill that passed this Chamber today did absolutely nothing whatsoever to restore one ounce of justice for the consumers on the West Coast who were so grievously ripped off by the Enron Corporation. Mr. Speaker, the sad fact is that today the House of Representatives had an opportunity to do something about an outrage that has not been remedied now despite our efforts for the last 3 years. Because the sad fact is that the Enron Corporation and others manipulated with unfortunately great effect the energy market in the West Coast starting in 2000. This manipulation resulted in West Coast ratepayers paying conservatively in the billions of dollars of overcharges to Enron and other energy traders.”