Thompson, Hooley and West Coast Colleagues Call for Investigation of Vice President Cheney's Involvement with the Klamath

Press Release

Today, Reps. Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Darlene Hooley (D-OR) joined 34 colleagues from California and Oregon in calling for congressional hearings on Vice President Dick Cheney's involvement in the disastrous Klamath River Basin water policy. They made this request to House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-WV) after a Washington Post investigative report found that Cheney pressured mid-level bureaucrats in the Department of Interior to divert water from the Klamath for political gain.

"We've known since 2002 that the Bush Administration manipulate science in a perverse and petty attempt to win votes," said Thompson. "Now it appears that this manipulation goes straight to the top. Despite what he may think, Vice President Cheney is not above the law and not above Congress' oversight. We want a thorough investigation of his involvement in the largest salmon kill and fishing disaster in our nation's history."

"The Bush administration's claim that they want federal agency decisions guided by ‘sound science' is nothing but a sham," said Hooley. "First, we learned of Karl Rove's involvement and now it's been reported that Vice President Cheney was also involved in pressuring federal agencies for political gain. Politics rule over policy once again with this Administration, and Congress should do its job of oversight by investigating Vice President Cheney's role in this matter."

In 2002, the Interior Department diverted water from the Klamath River Basin to farmers in Oregon, resulting in the death of 80,000 adult salmon. The Washington Post reports that Vice President Cheney called for the damaging water policy to secure the farmer's votes, despite scientific evidence that it would endanger two federally protected species of fish, a violation of the Endangered Species Act.

Since then, three court decisions have found that the water diversion was "arbitrary and capricious and in violation of the Endangered Species Act."

In the letter to Chairman Rahall, the Oregon and California members wrote, "The ramifications of that salmon kill are still being felt today as returns to the Klamath River are so low that commercial, sport and tribal fishing seasons have been curtailed for the past three years. In fact, last year's commercial fishing season for all of California and Oregon was cut by over 90 percent, and was the largest commercial fishing closure in the history of the country, causing over $60 million in damages to coastal economies."

Source