Providing for Consideration of H.R. 2954, Public Access and Lands Improvement Act, and Providing for Consideration of H.R. 3864, Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. VALADAO. Mr. Speaker, as a farmer in the Central Valley, I grew up there--born and raised--on my own personal farm with my family. We have struggled with this water fight for years, even before I was born. This isn't a new issue. It is something that has been talked about for years. The problem is we have talked about it long enough. We have got to do something. We have got to make a difference for these people.

When they talk about unemployment benefits, these people in my district would rather have a job. You turn on that water and they will be back to work. We have got farmers in my district that are literally laying people off today, putting more people on the unemployment line, because of environmental regulations.

Yes, there is a drought going on. That has been going on. It has happened in the past. We have got at least 10 in our recorded history in California.

When you look at what our forefathers have done, they created an infrastructure to allow us to prepare for those droughts, and what these regulations have done is allowed water to go out into the ocean and not be in place to prevent us from this disastrous situation we face today.

That is what we are fighting over today. We want to make sure that that infrastructure is used and our taxpayer money is put in place so that when those projects are there, we have water to supply our farms and our communities.

Over the last year, as a Member of Congress, and the 2 years before that as a member of the State house, and before that as a farmer, I have always dealt with and talked with my locals--and especially my local elected officials. My city councils, my city managers, my board of supervisors all come to me with the same issue:

What are we going to do? We have got 40 percent of our water this year for our city; we have got 50 percent of our water for our city; we have got 20 percent of our water for our farmers. How are we going to take care of our communities? How are we going to take care of these people. How are we going to allow them to be successful?

This is one of the solutions.

When we talk about solutions, I am fine and happy to work with Members on long-term solutions like the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, as long as it delivers water. I am fine talking about the water bond, as long as it delivers water infrastructure for our Valley.

We have to make sure that the crisis that we are facing today is addressed. Because it is a crisis; it is affecting people today. We are seeing people being laid off. Yes, that is putting a huge dent in our resources because we have to pay these people because they are not working because of a program, because of regulations that were put into place that allowed that water to go out into the ocean for absolutely no good reason.

So this has had an impact on my district. We are going to continue to fight, and yes, this is a solution. If the other side has a solution to bring to the table and be part of the conversation, I am happy to hear it and happy to negotiate. Until then, we are going to continue to fight on our side and push this forward.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source