Grace Napolitano: “Thank you, Mr. McClintock. Reclaiming my time, the technical memo also makes some standard corrections to the language…”

“Thank you, Mr. McClintock. Reclaiming my time, the technical memo also makes some standard corrections to the language passed out in committee. While we were not consulted in the drafting of this amendment, we don't oppose the amendment, as it does nothing substantial. I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, if I could now answer the question of the gentlewoman that she didn't seem to want to hear, it is this: This act applies--the act of July 2, 1956--to all contracts in the CVP under this legislation. That legislation states: The Secretary of the Interior shall include in any long- term contract hereafter entered into, if the other contracting party so requests, for renewal thereof under stated terms and conditions mutually agreeable to the parties. And I repeat: under stated terms and conditions mutually agreeable to the parties. This is not automatic renewal. This is negotiated anew between the government and the contractor. The only exception to that act under this bill is to accommodate the early repayment of Federal loans, which would be a boon to the cash-strapped Federal Treasury. Mr. Chairman, as we have repeatedly tried to explain to the minority, this measure simply applies the same standards to the CVP as are applied to all other water contracts throughout the western United States. It was a punitive act by this Congress in 1992 that reduced the amount of time in these contracts from 40 years to 25 years exclusively for the CVP.…”