Patty Murray: “I rise to lend my support for Senator Craig's amendment to strip the electricity title from the energy bill. I believe…”

“I rise to lend my support for Senator Craig's amendment to strip the electricity title from the energy bill. I believe that addressing electricity in major legislation, at this time, would not be good for the Nation. The electricity title does not protect consumers the way it should. We have not fully evaluated the effects of this bill on energy consumers, particularly small consumers. I am uncomfortable with the direction of the electricity title in moving authority away from State regulators to the FERC. Last year, the west went through a terrible electricity crisis which consumers are still paying for and workers still remain out of work. Also, in this past year we saw the collapse of Enron. We are still trying to fully understand the causes and effects of these two events. Hearings are occurring and legal proceedings are ongoing. House and Senate committees as well as numerous Federal and local government agencies are still trying to find out what happened with Enron and why. Many people lost their jobs and many more people lost their savings and retirement accounts. I do not believe we should move forward on major electricity market restructuring legislation before we completely understand what happened. Enacting broad, far reaching electricity market restructuring legislation before we understand what occurred would be a big mistake.”