Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I thank him for his leadership as chairman of the Natural Resources Committee and as a senior member of the Arizona delegation for his leadership on this important legislation. Mr. Speaker, the importance of the Colorado River to the West and my State of Arizona cannot be overstated. Forty million people in seven Western States get water from the Colorado, and nearly 40 percent of the water used in Phoenix comes from the Colorado. We must absolutely protect it, and we must do so without delay. To prepare for the impact of the changing climate and a drier future, water users in the seven Colorado River Basin States reached agreements to voluntarily conserve water and better manage the river to mitigate the risk of water levels falling to perilously low levels in Lakes Mead and Powell, the two largest man-made reservoirs in the United States. A little over a week ago, a Natural Resources subcommittee heard testimony from representatives from all seven basin States on the urgency to authorize the drought contingency plan as quickly as possible. This urgency was also expressed by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman, who described the consequences of not advancing the drought contingency plan.…”