Robert Smith: “I thank the majority whip and the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee for offering to have a hearing.…”

“I thank the majority whip and the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee for offering to have a hearing. I hope we have a hearing. But, frankly, I need the people of Klamath Falls to know where we are, so I am asking that we proceed with the unanimous consent agreement that is already in place, that we have a vote. And I know I may lose this vote. But I say to my colleagues, these are Federal projects. These were Federal promises. This is a Federal action now that is crushing people, some of whom have been there for 100 years or more. I think it is deplorable that this Government would have had a biological opinion and a whole list of actions they said they would take, and 8 years later there is nothing done except a new opinion that says no water for people, no water for farms. It is time for us to start caring about rural folks who are increasingly powerless. I ask for a vote on their behalf. I yield back my time.”