Date: 2014-12-09
Speaker: GEORGE MILLER (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. this is the final amendment to this bill. which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted. the bill will proceed immediately to final passage as amended. There is no question that the underlying bill is controversial. but wherever you stand on the goals of this bill. it is clear that it was not drafted properly. That is no surprise. It was introduced just a week ago and did not go through the normal legislative process. It did not receive a hearing or a markup. On top of that. the sponsors of the bill failed to consult the interested parties. They didnt consult the fishermen. both commercial and sports fishermen. duck hunters. and others who are deeply impacted by this bill. such as the thousands of farmers who are farming hundreds of thousands of acres and millions of dollars in crops. They didnt consult the water agencies that are responsible for delivering safe and clean drinking water to the Western States and to many in my district. They didnt consult the tribes whose rights may very well be affected by this legislation. They didnt even consult the Members of Congress from this great delta. the largest delta of the Pacific Ocean. They didnt even consult the Members with direct interest in this legislation. In fact. it was only when Senator BARBARA BOXER insisted that there be transparency in the process and that we be given copies of the bill that negotiations were called off and Senator FEINSTEIN said that she would take up this bill next year under regular order. Where does that leave us? With a bill intended to help one region of California at the expense of endangered species that could end up hurting millions of dollars worth of commercial fishing interests. farmers. tribes. and neighboring States. My amendment would fix that. First. it clarifies that nothing in this bill would adversely impact the fishing industries in California. Oregon. or Washington. Without this clarification. the bill would result in exporting additional water. which would devastate the salmon population and harm thousands of small businesses and commercial fishermen. Second. my bill would clarify that this bill would not create a precedent of impacting water rights in other States. This bill is a major rewrite of Californias water rights. plain and simple. Most notably. under existing State water rights. the bills increased pumping for the Central Valley Project would require a reduction in State water project pumping. yet the bill specifically mandates that the water supply for the State water project cannot be reduced. contrary to California law. This will mean that a small subgroup of water users in California will get a higher priority access to water than they are entitled to under their contracts. Finally. my amendment clarifies that the bill protects tribal sovereignty and wont reduce the quality and quantity of water provided to the Indian tribes under the Federal Governments tribal trust obligations. To give you one example of a tribe that could be harmed by this legislation. the Hoopa Valley Tribe in Humboldt County is dependent on water from the Trinity River. Their economy is dependent upon it. their fisheries are dependent upon it. and the tourism of the tribe is dependent upon the water of this river. We already saw this year emergency water releases from the Trinity River to prevent mass fish kills. If the water is all pumped out of the dam before then. the problem is there wont be any to help the tribe or to help other parts of the economy lower in the State. Truly. the House should reject this radical. illconceived bill. At a minimum. we should pass my amendment that would ensure that the reckless actions of this bills sponsors do not result in significant harm to our tribes. fishermen. and neighboring States. One of the rationales for passing this bill by the supporters of it is that this water just flows to the ocean. that is sort of the way God created the plain. but the fact of the matter is it doesnt just flow to the ocean. As it goes to the ocean. as it leaves the Sierra mountains and comes down the State. it goes past the cities of Sacramento. Concord. and Pittsburg. where hundreds of thousands of people live and depend upon it for their drinking water supplyclean water. It goes past the United States Steel mill that uses and needs clean water for steel production. It goes past the DuPont chemical facility that needs clean water for production. It mixes with the saltwater in the Suisun Marsh which allows fish to survive the dif ference between saltwater and freshwater. It provides all of those kinds of benefits and jobs for hundreds and thousands of people in the industries that are located in the delta and that are located there because of the delta. Finally. if there is no water. it does not flow to the ocean. That seems to be some kind of indictment against the river systems of California. that it flows to the ocean. If it doesnt flow to the ocean. then the salmon cant get out into the bay. they cant get out into the ocean. and the incoming salmon cant get up to spawn for the next generation. What happens when that happens? It means that in Oregon and Washington. it will affect the runs that come up here and provide for commercial fishing. that provide for sport fishing. that provide for recreation. that provide for tourism. that provide revenues to the States in terms of fishing licenses. revenues to all of the States. like California. It provides for the wetlands. for duck hunters. and preserves one of the great byways. That is not just going to the ocean. That is an incredibly important water system. A small group of farmers here want to take it all for themselves. Mr. Speaker. I yield back the balance of my time.