On the recordFebruary 18, 2011
I simply want to emphasize that the gentleman is correct, that the local people should decide that issue, and they have. In one local election after another, when this has been the deciding question, the voters themselves have said it is insanity, at a time when we can't guarantee enough electricity to keep their air conditioners running or the refrigerators running, to tear down the generating capacity equivalent to enough for 150,000 residents and 155 megawatts of electricity. The Siskiyou Board of Supervisors, elected by the people of the region, has taken a very strong stand in opposition to the removal of the dams. And to the gentleman from California, I too am concerned about the salmon. That's why the Iron Gate Fish Hatchery, which is producing 5 million salmon smolt a year, 17,000 of which return as fully grown salmon to spawn, is so critical. And why they would want to tear that out, along with the dams, is absolutely beyond me and beyond the people of the region who have voted repeatedly on this issue.
