Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Santa Ana River Wash Plan Land Exchange Act introduced by my Republican colleague and regional partner, Colonel Paul Cook. The Santa Ana River Wash Plan Land Exchange Act is the final step, as he mentioned, to complete the transfer of land between the San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District and the Bureau of Land Management, known as the BLM. This legislation allows the BLM and the San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District to trade parcels of land which will benefit both the BLM and the conservation district. This land exchange will empower mining companies, Robertson's Ready Mix, and CEMEX, which sit on land managed by the BLM, to increase efficiency. And as the gentleman mentioned, by increasing that efficiency, these local mining companies will produce aggregate that will support numerous infrastructure projects and approximately $36 million in annual payroll from this site alone. Additionally, the land exchange creates 59 acres of land for the conservation district to use for conservation purposes to protect endangered plants and species and for recharging water in more than 70 basins. The wash plan has been an ongoing project since the late 1980s, when it was a proposal from the cities of Highland and Redlands. As the former mayor of Redlands, I worked on this project at the local level.…”