Political Quotes

“this is part of a continuing effort to prevent the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from advancing what we believe is a very ill-conceived directive to increase springtime releases of water from Missouri River upstream dams in an experiment to see if a controlled flood may improve the breeding habit of the pallid sturgeon. House language was added to prevent implementation of the ``controlled flood'' during consideration in the House Committee on Appropriations. The majority leader has entered an amendment, which we appreciate, in this bill which says no decision on final disposition of the Missouri River manual should be made this year. I thank him for that. That is one step in the right direction. This, however, goes beyond and makes clear there is a broader policy involved. Rather than let the Fish and Wildlife Service dictate national priorities to the Congress, the administration, the States, and the people, I believe the elected officials in Congress need to weigh in to protect human safety, property, and jobs. In sum, we ought to be able to do several things at once. The authorizing legislation for the dams and other structures on the Missouri River says that they should be to prevent floods, to enhance transportation, provide hydropower, and to facilitate recreation. Subsequent to those enacting statutes, the Endangered Species Act was adopted with the hope that we would stop the disappearance of endangered species and help recover them.”