Political Quotes

“Today, the Senate will pass H.R. 3986, a bill introduced by Representative Doc Hastings, R-Washington, that will authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to study the feasibility of moving the intake system for the Kennewick Irrigation District from the Yakima River to the Columbia River. I introduced a similar bill earlier this year, S. 2163, which was passed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee earlier this month. The Senate's action today sends this bill, critical to Central Washington's efforts to recover threatened and endangered salmon, to the President's desk--an achievement long sought by the Yakama Indian Nation and the irrigators of the Yakima River Basin. Disputes over how to allocate and use water have always been contentious in the Pacific Northwest, and the disputes have only become more difficult as the region has been forced to deal with the recovery of threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead species. Over the past year, however, I have been pleased to support a new era of cooperation among tribes and various irrigation districts in Eastern Washington.”