Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlelady. While this bill directly affects the State of California, even though the State of California opposes the legislation, it is also opposed by representatives of the other western water interests--the State of Montana, the State of New Mexico, the State of Oregon, the State of Wyoming, the State of Colorado--which have all joined California in saying they don't want this bill. Why are they all saying that? They are saying it because of the precedent that it will set in upsetting settled water rights in the West. {time} 1450 Now, to address that issue, the Republicans have inserted in the bill language that says this bill does not set a precedent in upsetting all the water rights in the West, as it upsets all the water rights in California. So, what's that like? Well, in 1929, the Belgian surrealist painter, Rene Magritte, painted a painting of a tobacco pipe. Under the pipe, he painted the words, ``This is not a pipe.'' But of course it was a pipe--or at least a painting of a pipe. This bill has a similar surrealistic quality to it. The bill states that the violence of this bill in upsetting water rights is not a precedent, that nothing that happens in California will be a precedent for any other State--which is why of course all the other States are opposing the bill because of the precedent that it sets. This bill sets the precedent to upset all those other arrangements.…”