Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for bringing this legislation forward, and especially Chairman Grijalva and Ranking Member Bishop. I also thank Oregon senators, Merkley and Wyden, for their efforts on this, too. Irrigators in the Klamath Basin, which I represent, face another drought-stricken year. There have been a lot of things we have done to help them over time. I have been involved in these issues for more than 20 years now, and it is one of the most vexing water systems in the country when you try and parse it all together and make it all work, and couple that with Federal requirements and Tribal rights, and then get a drought year, we get in really bad shape. This year, I welcomed Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman to the Klamath Basin. They got a firsthand look at what our farmers were facing there. Secretary Bernhardt was the first Secretary of the Interior to visit the Klamath Basin in about 20 years, so we are really appreciative that he took time personally to come out there. We are thankful to the Trump administration for listening to us. They have committed to provide funding to ensure we have the best science available to make better decisions by the Federal Government when it comes to the allocation of water. Today, in this legislation, we are providing yet another tool to help farmers.…”