Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, stretching from the mountains of Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico, the Rio Grande River also forms over 1,200 miles of the international border between the United States and Mexico. The Treaty on Utilization of Waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande, signed in 1944, secures consistent and dependable water supplies for both countries, which is critically important in our desert Southwest. The treaty obligates Mexico to make available to the U.S. not less than 350,000 acre-feet of water per year from the main channel of the Rio Grande, averaged over a consecutive 5-year period. However, since 1994, Mexico has, on multiple occasions, failed to fulfill its Rio Grande water delivery commitments. The latest data indicates that we have now moved into year 4 of the 5-year cycle, and Mexico is in arrears of over 680,000 acre-feet of water, nearly two full years' worth. Mexico's recurring failure has reached real-world repercussions, especially for American farmers and ranchers, who have suffered devastating crop and cattle losses. U.S. diplomats and officials must urge Mexico to honor its commitments and establish regulations to regularize water deliveries. With this resolution, the House of Representatives affirms its support for the United States to use its resources to secure compliance by the Mexican Government.…”