Jared Huffman

We absolutely have to have an honest debate about what is causing these impacts.

I think it's safe to say we're now officially in election season.

The Central Valley Project Improvement Act did not affect any state water rights.

I will never trivialize those issues.

I want to urge everyone to be careful and precise when we talk about this subject.

we are now officially in election season. Like election years past, today we are having a partisan one-sided hearing aimed at bashing the Administration

this hearing is not about looking at the actual facts, it is about trying to score political points pursuing an agenda that my Republican colleagues have pursued for many years now

Instead of focusing on real drought solutions, we're here today to wage yet another ideological battle.

I think we need to all be very careful about the facts on a subject as potentially loaded as California water.

It's simply about trying to score political points and pursuing an agenda my Republican colleagues have pursued for many years.

I hope that someday we can hold hearings examining the many real drought solutions Congress could be pursuing.

As we discussed at the hearing on February 10, 2016, data from recent monitoring and focused research all strongly suggest that predation is a significant factor in reducing survival of juvenile salmon during their seaward migration.

We must address the scientifically demonstrated root causes of this problem. We must do better.

we also have to deal with the other stressors that we know are preventing salmon recovery, even the politically difficult ones, like unsustainable water exports in California.

In California, we have unsustainable water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, degraded habitat conditions...

Last year, this committee examined legislation to increase lethal take of California sea lions below Bonneville Dam.

I am very pleased today to have a conversation about these issues, and to discuss how we will work toward the recovery of our native salmon and steelhead.

Nobody is saying do not go and look at predation. Nobody is saying do not experiment, do not try some new things.

It is also very important to note that predator control problems supported by my Republican colleagues target fish species that are protected and managed very differently under state law.

I was not aware that pikeminnow were worth eating, but perhaps I live and learn.

We are continually having to reprove that fish need water while we talk about these other things.

The expectation that this is going to deliver us from endangered status on any of our salmon runs is probably not very realistic.

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife survey recently found that cormorant predation on juvenile salmon has no impact on the number of adults returning to the river.

I'm sorry to say that in California we have what can only be described as a salmon crisis.

We absolutely have to address the scientifically demonstrated root cause of this problem. We need to do better.