Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010 -- (House of Representatives - July 09, 2009)

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Mr. NUNES. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, article I, section 8 of the United States Constitution says that the Congress shall have the power to provide for the general welfare of the United States.

Congress has the basic responsibility to provide water to its citizens, Mr. Speaker. To say it bluntly, this Congress has failed in its constitutional duty to provide water to its citizens.

It's been 651 days since I warned this government of the imposed drought in California, the government-imposed drought. Since then, the Democrat leadership in this country has sat back and watched the vibrant economy of the San Joaquin Valley deteriorate to a level similar to a third world country. Unemployment in the San Joaquin Valley of California is nearing 20 percent, with some communities at 40 percent. Despite this economic catastrophe, the Democrat leadership in this country has remained silent.

Thankfully, around midnight on Tuesday, Mr. Speaker, my friend from California (Mr. Calvert) offered an amendment, during the Energy and Water Appropriations markup, which would have restored the flow of water to communities. A 30-minute debate followed this, which included absolutely outrageous and outright threatful statements.

One of my colleagues on the committee opined that California's water is critical to salmon and other endangered species, like the killer whale.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues, killer whales, these orcas live up here north of Washington. Mr. Speaker, what do killer whales have to do with landlocked farmers way down here? How is this possible?

Then my colleague went on to say, ``The culprit is not the Endangered Species Act but climate change.'' Mr. Speaker, what does climate change have to do with 40,000 people without jobs? I find it ironic that my colleague in 2003 didn't have the same concern when he supported the energy and water bill which overturned the Endangered Species Act on the silvery minnow. In fact, 31 of my Democrat colleagues on the Appropriations Committee supported the exact same bill in 2003 to protect the silvery minnow. What has changed for my Democrat colleagues? The silvery minnow and the delta smelt are both 3-inch bait fish.

Another member of the committee declared that the Calvert amendment was a ``wish amendment.'' Wish is certainly the right word to use. My constituents wish that the Democrats in this body would do their job. The same Member went on to threaten members of the committee that if they supported the Calvert amendment, they would lose their earmarks. It's amazing what happens around this place when the clock strikes midnight and they think no one is watching what people say. My message to you is, we are watching. I put the entire hearing up on YouTube for everyone in the world to see the pathetic excuses that were made in that committee that night.

My colleagues have complained that California farmers are putting fishermen out of work. But the truth is, the Federal Government put the salmon fishermen out of work. In fact, the Federal Government paid $100 million to the salmon fishermen not to fish. It doesn't take $100 million to solve the crisis in California, Mr. Speaker. It doesn't even take a penny. Just turn on the pumps, and restore the flow of water, is all we're asking.

It's unfortunate that the Democrat majority has made it quite clear they are going to ignore their constitutional duty to provide for the general welfare of its citizens. The other night my good friend from Idaho (Mr. Simpson) said during the debate, ``The Endangered Species Act wasn't written by God. It was written by man. If we can't make exceptions to it when necessary, what kind of Representatives are we?'' The gentleman from Idaho is correct. My constituents don't want your welfare. They want the Democrat leadership in this body to do their job.

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