Pipeline safety legislation

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----- Forwarded by Steven J Kean/NA/Enron on 10/16/2000 10:17 AM -----

Jeffrey Keeler
10/13/2000 12:28 PM

To: Stanley Horton/Corp/Enron@Enron, Phil Lowry/OTS/Enron@ENRON, John
Shafer/OTS/Enron@Enron, Shelley Corman/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, David L
Johnson/OTS/Enron@ENRON, Louis Soldano/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Colleen
Raker/ET&S/Enron@ENRON, Michael Terraso/OTS/Enron@ENRON, Steven J
Kean/NA/Enron@Enron, Richard Shapiro/NA/Enron@Enron, Joe
Hillings/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Cynthia Sandherr/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Chris
Long/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Clayton Seigle/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc:
Subject: Pipeline safety legislation - update

Since the defeat of the Senate pipeline safety legislation earlier this week
in the House, we have been working on strategies related to action that could
occur before the end of the congressional session. The following
developments indicate that the legislation is still very much in play, but
our primary concerns are making sure efforts going forward remain under
control and preventing the passage of legislation that goes too far.

Developments:

House Republican leadership is not interested in pursuing the legislation any
further, either through regular procedures or as an attachment to
appropriations, "omnibus" or other must-pass measures. They are somewhat
angry at the industry for not being able to fight off advances made by Reps.
Dingell and Oberstar, who were able to persuade enough Democrats to vote
against the Senate bill so that it fell short of the 2/3 needed for passage
under suspension of the rules.

Senate bill sponsors/supporters are extremely angry at House Democrats for
killing the Senate legislation, and at the White House/DOT for not strongly
promoting the Senate bill (which they previously had supported) and reigning
in House Democrats. Senator Patty Murray called the White House and
expressed her concern, which prompted a series of meetings between staff for
Senate and House Democrats and the White House to discuss a solution.

In these meetings, House Democrats have proposed adding several provisions
from the Dingell/Oberstar legislation to the Senate bill and moving that
package on an omnibus or appropriations bill. Sources close to Rep. Dingell
indicate that they really do not want any bill at all, and are merely keeping
up the pressure in an effort to see if they can get the Senate or industry to
accept tougher provisions.

Senate Democrats (including Murray, Bingaman, and Breaux) are not accepting
any possible amendments to the original Senate bill, and are opposed to
changing the Senate bill at all. However, Senator Murray and Republican
Senator Slade Gorton (who has a tough election) both want to continue to
pursue the Senate bill (unamended) as a rider to an omnibus/appropriations
bill.

The White House is looking to cover itself from a poor performance in the
House, and is considering drafting an executive order that could be issued if
no legislation passes at all. It is unclear what could or would be contained
in such an order, but the White House is indicating to Senate staff that it
would be more like the Senate bill than the House bill. We are working with
sources close to the White House to confirm their strategy.

Strategy going forward:

Upon hearing that some industry associations were on Capitol Hill discussing
"what industry could live with" in terms of provisions added to the Senate
bill, I insisted (along with El Paso and others) that we not take such an
approach, but rather remain consistent in our approach -- we support the
Senate bill and only the Senate bill. It was approved unanimously in the
Senate and by 60% of the House, and if anything moves forward on an
omnibus/appropriations bill, it should be the Senate bill. Consistent with
what our Senate friends are doing, we should not even recognize the
Dingell/Oberstar legislation as a serious proposal, nor start accepting
pieces of it as a compromise.

We will be shoring up support for our position of "if anything moves forward,
it should be the Senate bill only" with Senate supporters and leadership in
the House and Senate. We will also be working to thank the 51 Democrats who
supported us in the House, and make sure they have any cover they need in
case their vote becomes an issue. In support of Senator Gorton's election
troubles, we will be working to try to get media placement of op-eds that
support the efforts he has waged and make sure the House Democrats shoulder
the blame for the bill's defeat. In particular, we are hopeful that Senator
McCain (who has been passionate about this issue) will write op-eds that can
be placed to support Gorton and others in tough races who supported the
Senate bill.

Congress' state of confusion over omnibus/appropriations bills and last
minute politics causes the legislative activity to be extremely fluid and
subject to change rapidly, so we will have no real certainty until the
session is over (which now could be as late as October 20).

I will keep you posted as changes and developments occur.

Jeff