Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Chair, there is bipartisan agreement that Congress needs to create jobs, grow our economy, and live within our means. The bill before us today, though, goes too far, with irresponsible and arbitrary cuts that will threaten the economy and cost us more than 800,000 private and public sector jobs. Included in today's bill is reckless language that will cost thousands of jobs in coastal communities in my district and in Oregon by destroying the recreational and commercial salmon fisheries.

Over the years, my district has been hit hard by politically motivated water management decisions that have resulted in dramatic declines in salmon stock. For example, in the Central Valley, we witnessed a peak of 768,000 fall-run salmon in 2002, followed by a collapse to a historic low of only 39,500 fish in 2009. These declines have led to an estimated $1.4 billion in lost economic activity in 2008, 2009 and 23,000 lost jobs.

In these 2 years, the commercial fishery was completely shut down. Last year, only 14,500 salmon were caught by the California salmon fishery, which is about 20 percent as many as were caught during the 2006 disaster. This only exacerbates the economic crisis facing fishing families in communities in my district. These fishing families have been put out of work in my district and up through and into Oregon. Some have lost their homes, their savings, and their livelihoods.

Water management decisions in the collapsing bay-delta ecosystem need to be based on science, not politics. In 2002, the science on minimum flows in the Klamath River was ignored, resulting in the death of some 80,000 salmon and the loss of countless fishing community jobs. Today's bill does the same thing by waiving Federal protections, which put at risk fishing industry jobs. By de-funding the biological opinions, this bill also threatens water supplies for southern California farmers and cities by placing the burden to comply with the California Endangered Species Act solely on the State Water Project.

We know that with the right tools and careful water management we can meet our water needs in a cost-effective way and restore salmon runs and coastal economies. We need to continue the ongoing negotiations aimed at reaching balanced solutions for California's water challenges. This bill undermines that effort.

For these reasons and many more, I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing this reckless piece of legislation that hurts jobs, hurts the economy, and hurts my district.

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