Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to speak in support of a bipartisan amendment I have submitted with the senior Senator from California. It would enable Arizona, California, and other drought- stricken States to store more water in hydroelectric dams. As everyone knows, water is a controversial issue in the West. Arizona and California have long been at odds on a number of water- related issues, particularly the very long-running Supreme Court case on the Colorado River. However, recognizing the importance of wisely managing water in the West is something on which we can all agree and look for ways to cooperate. Today I am pleased to submit, along with Senator Feinstein of California, one of these helpful management provisions to better use existing dams in our drought-stricken States. These dams are critical to water management in the West. We have to store water, obviously, in dry times. The Western United States relies on dams to produce clean, renewable hydropower, to deliver drinking water to growing cities, and to irrigate fields. Because these dams are large and expensive and increasingly difficult to have built, it is imperative that we make the most of those we have already. In a bill introduced last year, Senator Feinstein included a pilot program to allow the updating of how flood control operations are conducted at many dams.…”