On the recordDecember 9, 2016
That was a good test. We can see where this is coming from, I say to my friend from Washington. All we are asking for is to go back to a bill that we worked on for almost 2 years, and now we are looking at a situation where we will be harmed in many ways by this rider. When I say ``we,'' I mean our States. We have thousands of salmon fishery jobs that will be lost. We have a frontal attack on the Endangered Species Act, which has been called out by every major environmental group in the country. We have letters from every salmon fishery organization saying that this is dangerous. Yet all we are asking for is a simple amendment to strip out a midnight rider, and the Republicans object. In that rider, it takes away the right of Congress to approve dams. So whether it is in Colorado or Wyoming or California or Washington or Oregon or Montana--and there are many other Western States--the President-elect will have the right to determine where to put a dam. He will have the ability, for the first time in history, to authorize the building of dams. And the answer comes back from those who support the rider: But Congress has to appropriate. Well, we know where that goes. I have been here a long time. All you need is a little appropriation every year, and the deal continues. So we have a circumstance on our hands. I know people in the Senate are really mad at me right now. What a perfect way for me to go out. I was a pain in the neck when I came, and I am a pain in the neck when I go.
