Political Quotes

“That is correct. I yield back the balance of my time. Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word. The CHAIR. The gentleman from California is recognized for 5 minutes. Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Chairman, this amendment, as the gentlelady has pointed out, strikes the NEPA exemption for small hydroelectric projects. Perhaps she hasn't been listening to the debate for the last hour. The NEPA exemption is the entire point of the bill. As our subcommittee heard earlier this year, it's precisely this duplicative, costly, time-consuming, and entirely unnecessary process that has more than doubled the cost to small hydro projects which simply makes them cost-prohibitive. They don't apply for permits because they know they don't pencil out once all of the studies are factored into their costs. The Bureau of Reclamation doesn't deny permits; it simply demands such costly environmental studies as to make these projects cost-prohibitive. The bill authorizes these projects so they don't have to go through the costly, time-consuming, and pointless environmental studies. The gentlelady, several times, mentioned the fact that the Bureau of Reclamation was moving ahead with three permits in Colorado. So what's the problem? Well, let's look at those three permits. One of these wasn't conduit hydropower, one was specifically approved by Congress in the 1980s, and the third took a full year to get the permitting done on an existing canal outlet.…”