Harry Reid: “I am happy to respond to my friend from New Mexico. However, there are a number of myths. A myth is something which I…”

“I am happy to respond to my friend from New Mexico. However, there are a number of myths. A myth is something which I guess takes a long time to perpetuate, so maybe we will not call these full-blown myths, but there is some misinformation the Senator has been given. I will talk about the first myth: Some claim that the water conservation program will preempt State law and allow the Federal Government to run water law in the States. That is simply not true. Any application to enroll in the program would have to be approved by the State in which the farmer farms. For example, if a rancher in Nevada decided he or she wanted to be part of this program and the Department of Agriculture decided it was a good deal, they would have to go to Mike Turnipseed, Nevada's water engineer, and if he said no deal, there would be no deal. All this talk of coercion is without logic.”