Jay Inslee: “as a Member of the Washington delegation, I rise in very, very vigorous opposition to the Nethercutt amendment. And I…”

“as a Member of the Washington delegation, I rise in very, very vigorous opposition to the Nethercutt amendment. And I would like to share with my fellow Members why I do. I know this area very, very well, and the Interior-Columbia Basin. It is an area my colleagues should come see. It is an area where Lewis and Clark first encountered the salmon cultures of North America, where they first came down the Snake River and they ran into the Columbia River, and guess what they found? They found an entire people who lived on salmon. Lewis and Clark in their journals in Undaunted Courage, Members should read it, it is a great book, said they could walk on the backs of salmon literally across the small areas of the Columbia River when the first European arrived. Now, today, we have at least 12 runs of salmon that are endangered. They are on the verge of going to extinction forever at our hands, at our hands, at the hand of the Federal Government, who has not to date acted in their interests to make sure that we do not take natural-use land policies on Federal land that drive them to extinction. I am here to ask that my colleagues from across the country to come to the aid of the State of Washington to save the salmon that Lewis and Clark first discovered in the Columbia River.”