David Thomas: “I had not planned on speaking on this amendment, but in listening to the discussion about California and somebody's…”

“I had not planned on speaking on this amendment, but in listening to the discussion about California and somebody's re-creation of recent history about what happened in this House, I felt compelled to come down here and at least try to give a little balance to the Congressional Record that was being made by people who were perhaps folks who have not paid attention to what has been going on over the last several years, protesting a little bit too much, I think, about an amendment that says if the Federal Government violates a contract that it made with someone, the Federal Government is in the wrong. And there was a discussion about the fact that the California water project, the Central Valley project, had been voted on by this House, and that an overwhelming bipartisan majority had already settled that question. And why in the world are we bringing it up again? Now, one simple statement was missing in that entire dialog about how horrible it is that the Federal Government is entering into a contract with a private party, that the Federal Government has to honor that contract.”