WALLY HERGER: “Mr. Chairman, I offer this important amendment today on an issue that is receiving national attention. Approximately…”

“Mr. Chairman, I offer this important amendment today on an issue that is receiving national attention. Approximately 1,500 family farmers and scores of agriculture-dependent businesses and families along the northern California and southern Oregon border have had their livelihood stripped from them by the Federal Government. A community of 70,000 could go bankrupt. On April 6 of this year, the Bureau of Reclamation announced that there will be no water, zero water for farming this year because, in the opinion of a select group of biologists and based on what many feel is flawed science, every drop of water was needed for the preservation of two species of fish. This is the poster child for the injustices that are occurring under the current implementation of the Endangered Species Act. Under this well-intentioned law, communities throughout the West are going broke, and in some cases human lives are being placed in jeopardy.”