Rob Bishop: “If the Speaker would forgive me for trying to get us back on the subject matter of the bill in front of us, I yield 3…”

“If the Speaker would forgive me for trying to get us back on the subject matter of the bill in front of us, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) to talk about the water bill. Mr. McCLINTOCK. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, the opposition has erupted into a veritable Mount Vesuvius of misinformation on the California water bill, and I would like to address a couple of the major points that they have raised. This does not preempt State water rights. It specifically invokes and protects the water rights against infringement by any bureaucracy-- local, State, or Federal. This is a legitimate constitutional function of the Federal Government that dates back to the 14th Amendment, and it is made essential by the unique relationship between the Federal and State governments with respect to California water policy, the mixture of both the Central Valley project and the State water project. To the ridiculous comment that this is a theft of northern California water and that northern California is united in its opposition, nothing could be further from the truth. On the contrary, this bill protects the north from any attempt to override established California water rights law in reallocating water from the north. Just to illustrate this, I would point out that it was these provisions in the last session of Congress that the California Association of Water Agencies specifically pointed to in support.…”