Jeff Denham: “The bill before us today helps bring closure to almost 50 years of litigation and uncertainty that have impacted tribal…”

“The bill before us today helps bring closure to almost 50 years of litigation and uncertainty that have impacted tribal and nontribal communities in southern California. {time} 1800 Negotiations between five tribes, water districts, cities, and Federal Government have been ongoing for decades, and this bill represents the results of those successful negotiations. The Federal money has already been appropriated for this settlement, and this bill, as amended, includes provisions that are aimed at resolving direct spending issues that have been identified by the Congressional Budget Office. It is not often that both sides of the aisle come to an agreement on anything involving California water. While I hope that we will have agreement on larger California water issues in the near future, this bill shows that we can come together. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan measure. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.”