"I regret that this markup is being cancelled. As you are aware, the Minority has been prepared to proceed. We have important amendments that deserve debate.

"As our opening statements made clear, while we may have disagreements with Chairmen Tauzin and Barton on matters, we have appreciated their willingness up to now to tackle the energy problems in California. The debate in subcommittee was enlightening, and demonstrated that we could disagree with one another while still making progress. This makes us even more disappointed that we are not going forward.

"As I have said before, we probably wouldn’t be here if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had been doing its job, but they haven’t, and I see little way out of these problems without legislation to direct them in the proper fashion.

"Perhaps the greatest culprit in this matter is the President and his Administration. They have refused to testify on the bill; they have refused to even respond to our requests for their views on this legislation. I have never seen an instance where the agencies responsible for carrying out a piece of legislation have refused to even provide any comments on the bill.

"I suspect that the issues involved will return during the coming months, and I think we would have been best served by continuing the markup today."

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