On the recordJuly 11, 2017
This is something that is near and dear to my heart. This is something that has affected our community. It happened less than 20 miles from my house, almost 100 years ago, and today I rise in remembrance of the Saint Francis Dam and the bill I sponsored, which would establish a national memorial to honor those in this terrible tragedy. The Saint Francis Dam failed on March 12, 1928, in the San Francisquito Canyon. Nearly 13 billion gallons of water crashed down upon the surrounding areas and, ultimately, traveled 54 miles down to the Pacific Ocean. The brute force of this floodwater claimed 437 lives, leaving in its wake unspeakable heartbreak and catastrophically impacted communities. The Saint Francis Dam disaster was America's worst civil engineering failure of the 20th century. While the failure ultimately informed future dam construction and the development of new safety standards, these lessons were learned at a steep price. Many of the dams that were built after this were built because of the Saint Francis Dam issues, and they were built at a much different level. This bill takes a small but significant step in memorializing the men, women, and children who lost their lives in this tragedy. Those individuals represent a solemn part of current-day Santa Clarita Valley's heritage, and I am humbled by this honor to commemorate their memory. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his support of this bill, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
