Grace Napolitano: “This is a simple amendment. It creates a revenue stream through the elimination of debt without interest, in other…”

“This is a simple amendment. It creates a revenue stream through the elimination of debt without interest, in other words, ending free subsidy on $400 million. It requires that any new water contracts or renewed contracts must reflect the price of water with interest and repay the debt of the project, with interest, to the Treasury. It is a small, but very important, assist to continue to try to balance our Federal budget. We are always looking for ways to find these little--I call them ``pockets of money'' to be able to help out. Reclamation established in 1902 was meant to deliver water to farms with a maximum of 160 acres, and it was provided interest free on the cost of that project. That was in 1902. Times have changed. Subsequent reclamation reform acts have changed the acreage limitation along with the repayment contracts for these projects. Congressional action has also made the repayment of project debt interest free--I repeat, debt interest free--on $400 million for irrigators while municipalities, like my constituency and power users, pay all of the required appropriate interest. I wish our water users in southern California were as lucky. H.R. 1837 removes the role of the Federal Government in protecting the environment and public good.…”