Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer my amendment which would allocate additional funding to the Bureau of Reclamation for the Colorado River Compliance Account and to support the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basin Endangered Fish Recovery Programs.

Mr. Chair, first, I would express my gratitude to the ranking member, who has served with such distinction in this body representing northwestern Ohio, Toledo and Sandusky, and doing her part to build a better future for the people of Ohio and the people of our country. In particular, her service as ranking member of this august subcommittee and always trying to find a way to bridge the divide and to build a bipartisan path forward.

It is unfortunate that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have regrettably chosen not to do that with this particular bill.

However, with respect to this amendment, the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basin Recovery Programs provide us with an opportunity to chart a bipartisan path forward. They are a model of successful partnership and collaboration across agencies, States, with both Federal and non-Federal partners in my State of Colorado, in addition to Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico.

I have been leading legislation over the past several years to reauthorize these programs, including bipartisan legislation in the previous Congress, which was signed into law and legislation this year that would extend the programs for an additional 7 years.

The programs work to recover and protect four species of endangered and threatened fish, while providing Endangered Species Act compliance for over 2,500 water projects.

The Colorado River Compliance Account provides critical Federal support for these programs, and my amendment would simply increase the Bureau of Reclamation's funding to direct additional Federal resources to these programs.

I hope it is an amendment that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle can support. It is common sense.

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman of the subcommittee for his support and his words with respect to this amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur), the distinguished ranking member of the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee.

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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Mr. NEGUSE.

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chairman, I would assure the chairman of the subcommittee that I won't be asking for a recorded vote on this amendment, but it is a similar amendment to the amendment just offered.

Essentially, this amendment directs the allocation of funding from a different account, again, to support this incredibly important program for all the reasons that had been stated by, of course, the ranking member of the subcommittee as well as the chairman previously.

The headwaters of the Colorado River are in my district. As the ranking member so eloquently stated, we face a complex set of challenges in the West as it relates to the Colorado River, which I continue to work to address in my State of Colorado and, of course, working with our colleagues in the Upper Basin and Lower Basin States.

This program, the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basin Endangered Species Recovery Implementation Program, I think is a great and salient example of a way in which we can chart unique solutions to really pressing challenges; in this case, of course, the potential for endangered species in our community and in our water basins.

All that being said, Mr. Chairman, without belaboring the point, I would simply say it is a program worth investing in and it is why I am pursuing this particular amendment, and I hope my colleagues can support it.

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Mr. NEGUSE. Mr. Chairman, I thank the subcommittee chairman, again, for his indulgence and support on this particular amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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