Klamath Basin Water Agreement Support Act of 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, I am very pleased my legislation has just passed.

I particularly want to express my thanks to my colleague and friend, my neighbor, Senator Barrasso, and staff John Tanner and others--Jack and Vincent and Kristin and Tori and Sam--who have been a big help in this effort.

This legislation, by my Republican colleague from eastern Oregon, Congressman Bentz, is a companion bill to my bill, S.482, which would uphold promises made by the Federal Government to farmers and Tribes in the Klamath Basin. The Klamath Basin is the subject of one of the largest river restoration projects in history.

As a result of this work, new habitats are being opened up to recover culturally important fish and wildlife and provide more flexibility for managing water deliveries to farmers in the Klamath Basin. The promise that was made to agricultural communities and agreed to by stakeholders in the Klamath Basin is that they would receive support for the work that must now be completed to avoid conflict, work like putting fish screens on water diversions.

I commend the House for passing this legislation on suspension, and I am really pleased that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle are going to allow us to make sure that we don't lose this critical and timely opportunity to finally live up to a promise made to these local communities nearly a decade ago.

I will close with this. I promised that I would have an open-to-all townhall meeting in every county in my State. I just cleared townhall meeting No. 1,100. That means that 1,100 times, for 90 minutes, we just said we are going to throw open the doors of government and listen to folks. I am not giving any speeches or using any teleprompters or whatever, just letting people share their views.

And it was there that I heard about this idea, this idea that is being advanced now on a bipartisan basis. Congressman Bentz, my colleague from eastern Oregon, myself, my home is in southeast Portland, urban and rural, Democrats and Republicans, coming together to do something that makes a lot of sense.

And I want to also, while I am making these remarks, thank my senatorial colleague Senator Merkley, who is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee. He has been doing so much good work on the Klamath over the years.

The passage of this legislation tonight is a good win for rural Oregon, long overdue.

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