THOMPSON: “IT WOULD BE MORE PRODUCTIVE FOR THIS BODY TO JOIN IN A RAIN DANCE ON THE FLOOR TODAY THAN TO PASS THIS BILL.”
Thompson votes against House Majority water bill that would destroy jobs, damage drinking water, and do nothing to alleviate the statewide drought
WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5) today voted against the House Majority’s California water bill, H.R. 3964. The legislation would allow water to be pumped south from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for as long as water is available, and it would undo the San Joaquin River restoration, an agreement to reconnect the river with the Pacific Ocean and reintroduce salmon flows.
Thompson spoke in opposition to H.R. 3964 today on the House floor. Text of his remarks and video are below. The legislation passed the House by a vote of 229-191. It is not expected to be considered by the Senate and President Obama’s advisors have said that they would recommend the President veto the bill if it reached his desk.
“Thank you Madam Chair.
“Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this bill – a bill that would destroy jobs, does nothing to address the real problem, the drought, and ignores more than twenty years of established science.
“What’s the bill do?
“Will this bill help alleviate the drought? No. Even if we pumped as much water as possible, Central Valley farmers still wouldn’t have enough. There isn’t enough water to go around. We’re in an extreme drought. The worst in the last century. You can look at these photographs and see the snowpack last year versus the snowpack this year. We’re in bad straights. And it’s a drought. It’s not a manmade problem. It’s a drought.
“Will this bill kill jobs? Yes. The Delta supports thousands of jobs in farming, fishing and tourism, and has an economic output of more than $4 billion a year. This bill puts those jobs in jeopardy.
“Will this bill harm drinking water that millions of people rely on? Yes. When clean water is pumped south, the level of salt water in the Delta increases. People can’t drink seawater.
“The entire state of California is in a drought. You saw it in today’s USA Today. There are towns without water. There are more towns in line to lose all the water they have. And it’s not due to a lack of pumping because of a quote-unquote little fish. It’s due to the lack of snow and the lack of rain.
“Now I know this is personal for many of my colleagues. It’s personal to me too. Many of the towns that I represent are running out of water. My home town is rationing water – 65 gallons per person, per day. It’s a real, real serious problem.
“I understand the concerns of the Central Valley farmers. Ag is big in my district too and this drought is hurting my constituents as well. Because of these dry conditions, grapevines will experience an early bud this year. And without water to protect the early bud from the frost, we have no crops. Out of business. But it’s a drought that’s causing the problem.
“Proponents of this bill say those who oppose it care more about fish than people. These comments cheapen the debate, they insult the intelligence of Californians, and are not based on facts.
“As a UC Berkeley professor of agriculture and resource economics stated in the paper today, Michael Hanemann, he said you could kill every fish in the Delta and you still would have a real problem.
“Simply put, this bill is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to use this drought as an excuse to pump water from other users – and to do so with zero regard for the people who depend on that water for their livelihoods.
“It would be more productive for this body to join in a rain dance on the floor today than to pass this bill.
“Our people, our constituents deserve better than this politically-driven bill. They deserve solutions.
“I ask for a ‘No Vote’ on the bill.”
Congressman Mike Thompson is proud to represent California’s 5th Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma Counties. He is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Rep. Thompson is also a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition and chairs the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Wine Caucus.
# # #