Jared Huffman: “I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. I rise in support of this amendment. My colleague across the aisle just…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time. I rise in support of this amendment. My colleague across the aisle just asked the rhetorical question: Why is this amendment needed? It is needed because fishing jobs matter. The people whom I represent on the north coast of California and also other fishing communities up and down the Pacific Coast, including Oregon and Washington, their jobs matter, and their limited opportunity to have their interests considered when a dam project is moving forward is what is shortened by the streamlining in this bill. Their interests are already subordinated oftentimes, but they get subordinated even further by the streamlining in this case, which places the Bureau of Reclamation, the proponent of the new dam, in charge of the administrative record, which places the fish agencies-- which often advance the interests of protecting fisheries--in a subordinate role to the Bureau of Reclamation that controls the administrative record, which imposes shortened timelines to make it even harder for their interests to be considered. Fishing jobs matter. And the truth is, right now, in my district and in many other fishing communities, people are hurting because they have been damaged by poorly operated and poorly permitted dams. Let's not make things worse. This amendment is absolutely necessary, and I urge an ``aye'' vote. Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr.…”