We will not solve our water shortages until we build more dams, and we will not build more dams until we fundamentally reform the environmental laws that make their construction cost prohibitive.

It seems silly to me.

Droughts are nature's fault. Water shortages are our fault.

The legislation by Congressman Hastings is based on numerous hearings held by this subcommittee and the full committee on the impediments to construction of new reservoirs.

We cannot build dams if we cannot get the dams approved, and that is the whole problem that this bill addresses.

That WRRDA bill with those provisions was supported by every member of this committee, Democrat and Republican.

I want my grandchildren to have the opportunity to see the amazing mating display of the prairie chicken.

So, I am disappointed, although not surprised. This has been the theme of the Majority since they took control of this House and the committee.

When species are gone, they are gone forever. You cannot bring them back; they are gone from the planet earth.

One example is the Klamath River, where there has been a continuing movement to tear down four perfectly good hydroelectric dams because of the impact on salmon.

This past fall 800,000 acre-feet was released out of dams, knowing we were going into a potentially catastrophic drought.

What I want to briefly say is how important it is for all of us to be responsible stewards of our natural world, and how important the Endangered Species Act is to preserving the natural treasures we have for now and for future generations…