Jim Costa

Congressional Republicans--the same ones who say they love the Constitution--do not even believe the President should be able to exercise authorities clearly listed in that document.

At this point the President can't eat a sandwich without being accused of gross executive over-reach and illegal infringement on congressional authority.

I wish today's hearing was going to be a thoughtful discussion about the importance of habitat in protecting and recovering imperiled American fish and wildlife.

I would like to once again rise to address the water crises that are facing not just California, but our Nation and throughout the world. Today, global communities and business organizations have joined together, and the White House is…

I think the fact that we detected fruit flies 12 times this year, and were able to quickly respond to those and eradicate those, shows how good the detection systems are.

Well, thank you very much. Keep both Subcommittees updated as to what resources you may need.

For over 20 years, we have had an increasing layer of regulatory requirements that have reduced the water supply from 90 percent to 40 percent.

This has impacted farm communities, farm workers, and farmers.

Representative Bustos and I would like to thank Congressmen Beyer and Wittman and the Rules Committee for allowing us to present this amendment on the floor. This amendment would help ensure that the interests of small businesses that rely…

As the designee of the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Bustos), I offer amendment No. 4. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Page 20, line 19, strike ``; and'' and insert a…

I want to commend you for your years of service to our country and to American agriculture.

It is a national security issue and we don't treat it like a national security issue.

This is not only a social economic injustice issue that so many people in the San Joaquin Valley, 4 million people, have been impacted because their very existence is threatened by whether or not they will have a reliable water supply in…

No, but we need to fix a broken water system, don't you think?

We ought to be fair and equitable for every region in California when we talk about the water tools that are available to solve those regional water needs for those areas.

Mr. Bettner is present here today as a witness. We very much appreciate his help.

Let me tell you something. That is unacceptable, it is avoidable, and it is immoral.

Let's be clear. I mean we have been operating these projects during these drought conditions for one first priority only, and that is to try to protect the survivability of Delta smelt and other species.

This 4 years of drought has highlighted the inability of the water system that we have in California, the Federal and the state water projects, to meet all of the demands that are now asked of them.

We have tried everything possible to try to, in effect, bring together a bipartisan effort to fix what is a broken water system in California.

Californians simply do not support sacrificing California's environment primarily for the benefit of a small number of agricultural water users.

We simply cannot weaken fishery protections any more.

My drought legislation would update these regulations, allowing water managers to use forecast-based decisionmaking for flood control releases, so we can save precious water supplies during drought.

California's anadromous fisheries are hanging on by a thread.

If we further weaken fisheries protections, we need to think about what comes next.