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Water Use Efficiency and Conservation Research Act

Floor Speech

Date: Feb. 11, 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Conservative


WATER USE EFFICIENCY AND CONSERVATION RESEARCH ACT -- (House of Representatives - February 11, 2009)

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Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, the bill before us calls for the efficient use of water, and I think that is a very, very good goal. One place that water is not being efficiently used by the environmental community is in my district back in California. Due to drought conditions and the abuse of the Endangered Species Act, which is placing the needs of fish over the needs of farmers, the agriculture economy in our region stands to lose over 40,000 jobs and over $1 billion in revenue.

Considering the bleak outlook for California's economy, one would think that this so-called economic stimulus legislation might do something to address this problem. Further, one might also think that if there was a way to address this problem without spending one dime of the taxpayers' money, this stimulus plan would include that option.

In fact, there is a way to save those 40,000 jobs in my district, and billions of dollars in lost income, at no cost. Just temporarily suspend the Endangered Species Act as it applies to the pumps in the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta Pumps.

But does this stimulus plan include that proposal? Of course not. Because the stimulus plan is not stimulus at all--it is a big spending bill of gigantic proportions. Heaven forbid that our friends on the other side of the aisle would try to save jobs without spending money.

Instead, we are spending money: $4 billion per year on the voter fraud organization called ACORN. How can this be considered stimulus? Instead, we are going to spend barely 1 day passing a trillion-dollar stimulus bill that spends nearly $300 million to purchase golf carts. Maybe the majority feels that the country club community are the people who are really hurting right now.

This bill only sends our country and our children deeper and deeper in debt, and the special interest spending contained within it are not in America's best interest. Please join me in voting ``no'' on this bill.

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