Alan Simpson: “I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment. The Acting CHAIR. A point of order is reserved. Pursuant to…”

“I reserve a point of order on the gentleman's amendment. The Acting CHAIR. A point of order is reserved. Pursuant to House Resolution 743, the gentleman from California and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California. Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Chairman, my amendment is being raised to raise awareness of a very unjust situation. My amendment would ban Federal funding for debt forgiveness to any entity that has been subject to an order finding a violation of the Securities Act of 1933. This is timely because there was a hearing yesterday in the Committee on Natural Resources that included two bills that would affirm a drainage settlement between the United States and Westlands Water District. This settlement would award Federal forgiveness to Westlands, which has violated such an SEC order. These agreements matter because they will result in a $300 million taxpayer giveaway. They also fail to address or solve the extreme water pollution these irrigation districts discharge into the San Joaquin River and California delta estuary. These settlement agreements do not require enough land retirements and provide more access to water, further draining the delta, and there are no real performance standards or oversight if pollution runoff is mismanaged.…”