On the recordFebruary 29, 2012
I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker and Members, I think it was Einstein that said: If you start with the wrong numbers in your equation, you can never get to the correct solution. What we just heard was a textbook perfect example of that. The idea that there's 30,000 to 60,000 lost jobs as a result of what is happening south of the delta, I don't know where those numbers came from. You're certainly welcome to your own opinion, but you're not welcome to your own facts. The facts tell a whole different story. If you look at what UC Davis did, if you look at what the University of the Pacific did, UC Berkeley, all their numbers point to a loss associated with certain things: a loss of jobs associated with the drought, a loss of jobs associated with an endangered species. But these are in the hundreds or the single-digit thousands, not anywhere close to 30,000 or 60,000. We need to get this thing right. My friend from California was absolutely correct when he called for us to work together. That's exactly what we've been trying to do, to work together. This bill was not crafted with the stakeholders at the table. This bill was crafted in the proverbial back room with not all of the stakeholders present. None of us who have a legitimate dog in this fight were included in this. If this bill were to pass, there will be thousands of jobs lost. They'll be north of the delta. They'll be farming jobs; they'll be fisheries jobs; they'll be recreational jobs.…
