Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Improvement Act of 2010

Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the Chair regarding the votes that I missed on the following dates:

May 12, due to the passing of my mother, Ivalita Jackson, I missed the following votes:

Rollcall vote No. 259, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote No. 260, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote No. 261, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote No. 262, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote No. 263, I would have voted no;

Rollcall vote 264, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 265, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 266, I would have voted ``aye''.

I rise to address the Chair regarding my absence from rollcall votes 259-266 on Wednesday, May 12, 2010.

I was not able to cast my votes during roll call 259-266 because I was in bereavement of the passing of my mother, Ivalita Jackson. Had I been present, for rollcall vote 259, on agreeing to the resolution, H. Res. 1344, ``Providing for consideration of the bill H.R. 5116, the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010,'' I would have voted ``aye''; for rollcall vote 260, on motion to suspend the rules and pass as amended, H.R. 5014, `` To clarify the health care provided by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs that constitutes minimum essential coverage,'' I would have voted ``aye''; for rollcall vote 261, on motion to suspend the rules and agree as amended, H. Con. Res. 268, ``Supporting the goals and ideals of National Women's Health Week, and for other purposes,'' I would have voted ``aye''; for rollcall vote 262, on agreeing to the amendment to H.R. 5116, ``Gordon Amendment No. 1,'' I would have voted ``aye''; for rollcall vote 263, on agreeing to the amendment to H.R. 5116, ``Hall of Texas Amendment No. 6,'' I would have voted ``no''; for rollcall vote 264, on agreeing to the amendment to H.R. 5116, ``Markey of Massachusetts Amendment No. 10,'' I would have voted ``aye''; for rollcall vote 265, on agreeing to the amendment to H.R. 5116, ``George Miller of California, Amendment No. 12,'' I would have voted ``aye''; for roll call vote 266, on agreeing to the amendment to H.R. 5116, ``Reyes of Texas Amendment No. 13,'' I would have voted ``aye'';

Tuesday, May 18, due similarly to the passing of my mother:

Rollcall votes 273 to 275, motion to suspend the rules, rollcall vote 273, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 274, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 275, I would have voted ``aye''.

I rise to address the Chair regarding my absence from rollcall votes 273-275 on Tuesday, May 18, 2010.

I was not able to cast my votes during roll-call 273-275 because I was in bereavement of the passing of my mother, Ivalita Jackson. I would like to state for the record how I would have voted had I been present.

For rollcall vote 273, on motion to suspend the rules and pass as amended, H.R. 2288, ``Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Improvement Act of 2009,'' I would have voted ``aye'';

For rollcall vote 274, on motion to suspend the rules and pass as amended, H.R. 4614, ``Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act of 2010,'' I would have voted ``aye'';

For rollcall vote 275, on motion to suspend the rules and agree, H. Res. 1327, ``Honoring the life achievements, and contributions of Floyd Dominy,'' I would have voted ``aye.''

On the 20th of May, due to the passing of my mother, I missed the following votes:

Rollcall vote 284, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 285, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 286, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 287, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 288, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 289, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 290, I would have voted ``aye''.

I rise to address the Chair regarding my absence from rollcall votes 284-290 on Thursday, May 20, 2010.

I was not able to cast my votes during rollcall 284-290 because I was in bereavement of the passing of my mother, Ivalita Jackson. I would like to state for the Record how I would have voted had I been present.

For rollcall vote 284, on motion to suspend the rules and pass as amended, H.R. 5327, ``To authorize assistance to Israel for the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system,'' I would have voted ``aye''.

For rollcall vote 285, on motion to suspend the rules agree to, H. Res. 1256, ``Congratulating Phil Mickelson on winning the 2010 Masters golf tournament,'' I would have voted ``aye'';

For rollcall vote 286, on motion to suspend the rules and agree to, H. Res. 1336, `` Congratulating the University of Texas men's swimming and diving team for winning the NCAA Division I national championship,'' I would have voted ``aye'';

For rollcall vote 287, on motion to suspend the rules and pass as amended, H.R. 1361, ``Recognizing North Carolina Central on its 100th anniversary,'' I would have voted ``aye'';

For rollcall vote 288, on ordering the previous question, H. Res. 1363, ``Granting the authority provided under clause 4(c)(3) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to the Committee on Education and Labor for purposes of its investigation into underground coal mining safety,'' I would have voted ``aye'';

For rollcall vote 289, on agreeing to resolution, H. Res. 163, ``Granting the authority provided under clause 4(c)(3) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to the Committee on Education and Labor for purposes of its investigation into underground coal mining safety,'' I would have voted ``aye'';

For rollcall vote 290, on motion to suspend the rules and pass as amended, H.R. 5128, ``To designate the Department of the Interior Building in Washington, District of Columbia, as the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building,'' I would have voted ``aye'';

Accordingly, I continued to miss time on the passing of my mother on May 24, and I missed rollcall votes 291 to 293.

I would have voted, on rollcall vote 291, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 292, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 293, I would have voted ``aye''.

I rise to address the Chair regarding my absence from rollcall votes 291-293 on Monday, May 24, 2010.

I was not able to cast my votes during rollcall 291-293 because I was in bereavement of the passing of my mother, Ivalita Jackson. I would like to state for the Record how I would have voted had I been present.

For rollcall vote 291, on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 278, ``Expressing the sense of Congress that a grateful Nation supports and salutes Sons and Daughters in Touch on its 20th Anniversary that is being held on Fathers Day, 2010, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, the District of Columbia,'' I would have voted ``aye'';

For rollcall vote 292, on motion to suspend the rules and pass as amended, H.R. 1017, ``Chiropractic Care Available to All Veterans Act,'' I would have voted ``aye'';

For rollcall vote 293, on motion to suspend the rules and pass as amended, H.R. 5330, ``To amend the Anti-trust Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004 to extend the operation of such Act for a 5-year period ending June 22, 2015, and for other purposes,'' I would have voted ``aye''.

On Tuesday, May 25, accordingly, I missed the following votes pursuant to the earlier statement:

Rollcall vote 294, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 295, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 296, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 297, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 298, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 299, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 300, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 301, I would have voted ``aye''.

I rise to address the Chair regarding my absence from rollcall votes 294-301 on Tuesday, May 25, 2010.

I was not able to cast my votes during rollcall 294-301 because I was in bereavement of the passing of my mother, Ivalita Jackson. I would like to state for the Record how I would have voted had I been present.

For rollcall vote 294, on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 5145, ``Assuring Quality Care for Veterans Act,'' I would have voted ``aye.''

For rollcall vote 295, on motion to suspend the rule and agree to H. Res. 437, ``Expressing support for designation of May 2010 as Mental Health Month,'' I would have voted ``aye.''

For rollcall vote 296, on motion to suspend the rules and agree as amended to H. Res. 1382, ``Expressing sympathy to the families of those killed by North Korea in the sinking of the Republic of Korea Ship Cheonan, and solidarity with the Republic of Korea in the aftermath of this tragic incident,'' I would have voted ``aye.''

For rollcall vote 297, on motion to suspend the rules and agree as amended to H. Res. 584, ``Recognizing the importance of manufactured and modular housing in the United States,'' I would have voted ``aye.''

For rollcall vote 298, on motion to suspend the rules and agree as amended to H.Res. 3885, ``Veterans Dog Training Therapy Act,'' I would have voted ``aye.''

For rollcall vote 299, on motion to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendments to H.R. 2711, ``Special Agent Samuel Hicks Families of Fallen Heroes Act,'' I would have voted ``aye.''

For rollcall vote 300, on motion to suspend the rules and agree as amended to H. Res.

1189, ``Commending Lance Mackey on winning a record 4th straight Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race,'' I would have voted ``aye.''

For rollcall vote 301, on motion to suspend the rules and agree as amended to H. Res. 1172, ``Recognizing the life and achievements of Will Keith Kellogg,'' I would have voted ``aye.''

May 26, I was unavoidably detained on official business. I missed rollcall vote 302. I would have voted aye;

Rollcall vote 303, I would have voted ``aye'';

Rollcall vote 304, I would have voted ``aye''; and

Rollcall vote 305, I would have voted ``aye''.

I rise to address the Chair regarding my absence from rollcall votes 302-305 on Wednesday, May 26, 2010.

Mr. Speaker, I was not able to cast my votes during rollcall on Wednesday, May 26, 2010, because I was away from the office on official business. I would like to state for the Record how I would have voted, had I been present.

For rollcall vote, 302, on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1347, ``Honoring the workers who perished on the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, extending condolences to their families, and recognizing the valiant efforts of emergency response workers at the disaster site,'' I would have voted ``aye.''

For rollcall vote 303, on motion to suspend the rule and agree to H. Res. 1385, ``recognizing and honoring the courage and sacrifice of the members of the Armed Forces and veterans, and for other purposes,'' I would have voted ``aye.''

For rollcall vote 304, on motion to suspend the rules and agree as amended to H. Res 1316, ``Celebrating Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month,'' I would have voted ``aye.''

For rollcall vote 305, on motion to suspend the rules and agree as amended to H. Res. 1169, ``Honoring the 125th anniversary of Rollins College,'' I would have voted ``aye.''

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

This measure offers yet another example of how the Endangered Species Act has put a gun to the head of the West. The unreasonable effect of this

law is now impoverishing millions of people across the country. In California communities, it has devastated the agricultural sector of our economy, and it threatens us all with permanent water shortages, skyrocketing food prices, and chronic unemployment.

The measure before us today seeks to spend roughly $40 million through 2023 for research, management, operation, and maintenance and other annual noncapital expenditures in order to keep ESA litigation at bay in the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins. It's cosponsored by Representatives of both parties, not because it will produce a single drop of additional water for this region but, rather, because it will forestall additional endless ESA lawsuits.

These programs only exist and only command bipartisan support because these steps are mandated by the ESA under threat of the region losing further access to its own water. And at some point, we're going to have to consider major changes to the ESA before it further depresses our economy, strangles our agriculture, and depletes our Treasury.

Let me offer one of the examples of changes that I think needs to be made. The administration is now pursuing the deliberate destruction of four perfectly good hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River that generate 155 megawatts of the cleanest and cheapest electricity on the planet at the cost to ratepayers and taxpayers of nearly $500 million to tear down. This is to restore fish habitat for a few hundred salmon. When I visited the region a few weeks ago, I asked, If the salmon population was in decline, why don't we just build a fish hatchery? The Macaulay fish hatchery in Juneau, for example, produces 170 million salmon every year. And the answer was, We already have a fish hatchery below the dams at Iron Gate, but the Endangered Species Act doesn't allow us to count the millions of fish that it produces. This is insane.

In this case, it's going to cost us $40 million, according to the CBO, on a program that lacks explicit goals and is running outrageous overhead--22 percent in one case. Now, let me emphasize this: This program doesn't even set specific recovery goals, so there's no rational way of judging success or failure either now or in the future. It is simply a bureaucratic perpetual spending machine.

The good news is, this program does include fish hatcheries, but without any numerical standard for success, their production becomes irrelevant to the program. We're squandering the earnings of our citizens on bureaucratic paperwork and Rube Goldberg contraptions with no rational standard for success instead of investing that money for new water supplies.

This bill continues a folly that our Nation and our economy can no longer afford. I realize that many of the supporters feel that this is the path of least resistance within the current legal framework in order to continue to use the water projects that we've already paid for. Well, that may be the case. But the path of least resistance is destroying our economy, bankrupting our country, and perhaps it's time we took the path less well traveled, the path of common sense.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his kind words, but I do wonder how he can define success in a program that has no standards for success. I also need to correct him on one other point, and that is the claim that this will provide or produce 3 million acre-feet of water. It does no such thing. All it does is allow us to continue to use the 3 million acre-feet of water that we already produce and that we have already paid for without impediments posed by additional ESA litigation.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I readily concede that if you put a gun to somebody's head, you can get reasonable people to do unreasonable things. The ESA is a gun to the head of the people of the West. It's time we did something about that.

No one suggests that there's not an important mission for the ESA, but it has gotten completely out of control. It has breached all bounds of reason and logic, and it is time that we visited that issue rather than continue to squander tens of millions of dollars on programs like this, whose sole purpose is simply to keep that ESA litigation at bay.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Does the gentlelady have any additional speakers?

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the distinguished chairwoman of the subcommittee for moving this important bill forward. I would like to share with you and my esteemed colleagues the importance of the Upper Colorado River and San Juan River Basin Endangered Fish Recovery Program. This program is a premiere example of how to recover endangered fish species while also providing more than 3 million acre-feet of water per year to Federal, tribal, and non-Federal water projects. It has been cited as the most successful fish recovery program in the United States and is used as a model for other recovery programs developed across the country.

Today I am happy to see that the House is passing H.R. 2288, to ensure the program can finish the restoration projects identified for complete success. This bill extends the authorization of the program until the year 2023. At that time, the fish species in concern will be fully recovered, and the infrastructure will be in place to ensure continued success. The projects completed to date on the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins are examples of outstanding cooperation among a diverse group of local, State, Federal Government agencies, environmental groups, water users, farmers, ranchers, and utility consumers.

People ask why they've never heard of the recovery program, and that is because it has been so successful. The fish identified as being under threat have been substantially maintained. This bill is critical for the continued and final success of the projects necessary for recovery of the endangered fish.

I would also like to note that when this program was enacted, it was done with the understanding that power revenues would be used to pay for the costs of implementing the two fish recovery programs. Due to PAYGO rules, the legislation now lets the power customers only pay a part of the cost of these programs while national taxpayers cover the rest. The original program was agreed to based upon the understanding that power customers would pay for the fish recovery programs, and I hope that they will work with the rest of the parties to fulfill this funding obligation after 2011.

Mr. Speaker, this is a prime example of how one ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It is one of the most successful recovery programs in the entire country, and I want to thank the chairwoman, and I want to thank Ranking Member McClintock for working with us on this legislation.

I thank the chairwoman.

I want to remind the ranking member that the individual who actually ran against me who was the Department of Natural Resources director, Greg Walcher, for Colorado was one of the ones who helped to implement this program in Colorado, a very strong supporter. This was done in a bipartisan way, and most recovery programs are actually starting to be modeled after the Upper Colorado Fish Recovery Program. This is a way to keep fish from going on the endangered species list, and so I am very proud of this program.

We do have goals. By the year 2023, everything should be in place. The infrastructure should be in place so that we can maintain the numbers of the endangered fish in the Upper Colorado River and the San Juan.

I just wanted to thank the gentleman for joining us yesterday in Colorado for a specific water hearing that the gentlelady held in Greeley, Colorado, a prime example of how we can all work together to make sure that agriculture can maintain its water rights. So that is why I am so supportive of this program.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2288) to amend Public Law 106-392 to maintain annual base funding for the Upper Colorado and San Juan fish recovery programs through fiscal year 2023, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2288, introduced by our colleague Representative John Salazar from Colorado and seven other colleagues, would amend Public Law 106-392 to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2012 to 2023 to fund fish recovery programs in the Upper Colorado and the San Juan River Basins.

H.R. 2288 will help ensure the continued delivery of water from Federal water projects to irrigators and municipal and industrial contractors throughout the Upper Colorado River Basin through fiscal year 2023. More than 1,500 water projects will continue to have certainty to move forward, based on the support and commitments generated through these recovery programs.

These recovery programs are nationally recognized examples of diverse stakeholders coming together to collaboratively find solutions without litigation that allow everyone to use the river systems to promote economic growth while supporting compliance with the Endangered Species Act and the recovery of native fish species within the Colorado River Basin.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support the passage of H.R. 2288, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I won't go into any other dialogue other than to yield, for as much time as he may consume, to the gentleman from Colorado, Congressman Salazar.

I yield, for as much time as he may consume, to the gentleman from Colorado, Congressman Salazar.

I will yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Colorado.

I have no further requests for time, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, Congressman Salazar was right. We met yesterday in Greeley, Colorado, with a lot of stakeholders of the Colorado River Basin who indicated to us that their economy is at stake. They professed to us that the Endangered Species Act actually helped maintain the quality of the water in the rivers. So, to me, that's a further indication of how important this particular bill is, to continue the collaboration of all the entities who would come to the table, put their differences aside and quit getting into litigation that is more costly to the taxpayer.

With that, I request that we support H.R. 2288.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, unfortunately, I missed the following recorded votes on the House floor the legislative week of Tuesday, May 18, 2010.

For Tuesday, May 18, 2010, had I been present I would have voted ``No'' on rollcall vote No. 273 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 2288), ``no'' on rollcall vote No. 274 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 4614), ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 275 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1327).

For Wednesday, May 19, 2010, had I been present I would have voted ``no'' on rollcall vote No. 276 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 1514), ``no'' on rollcall vote No. 277 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 5325), ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 278 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1325), ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 279 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1362), ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 280 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 5099), ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 281 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 403), ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 282 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1292), ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 283 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1364).

For Thursday, May 20, 2010, had I been present I would have voted ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 284 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 5327), ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 285 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1256), ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 286 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1336), ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 287 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H. Res. 1361), ``no'' on rollcall vote No. 288 (on ordering the previous question on H. Res. 1363), ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 289 (on agreeing to H. Res. 1363), ``aye'' on rollcall vote No. 290 (on motion to suspend the rules and agree to H.R. 5128).