Speeches
June 24, 2014
Opening Statement of Chairman Tom McClintock: The Subcommittee meets today in response to urgent protests made by a wide range of state and local governments, farmers, ranchers, public land users and private land owners in response to threatened action by the EPA and the Forest Service to vastly expand their authority over water use at the expense of long established state jurisdictions, rights and prerogatives and in direct violation of the constitutional separation of powers.
Issues:Natural Resources Committee
May 26, 2014
For many of our fellow citizens, Memorial Day marks the commencement of the summer holidays. For those who gather today at events like this, it has far deeper meaning. It is the day we set aside to honor those who gave their lives in defense of -- what exactly?
May 8, 2014
We cannot demand that our people scrimp and save and stretch and ration every drop of water in their parched homes while at the same time, this government treats our remaining water supply so recklessly, so irresponsibly and so wastefully.
May 7, 2014
One of the biggest complaints I hear is the practice of forcing taxpayers to underwrite the losses and risks of politically well-connected companies. THEY reap the profits while American taxpayers pay for their losses. Today, the House considers a bill that perpetuates this policy with the objective of creating jobs - not in America, but overseas.
April 29, 2014
A few months ago, Folsom Lake was almost empty. The drought was the catalyst, but the reason was unnecessary water releases from this Dam and a lack of additional water storage upstream.
April 10, 2014
Oversight Hearing: Energy Independence - Domestic Opportunities to Reverse California's Growing Dependence on Foreign Oil
April 4, 2014
The question before the House is whether we are going to continue to ignore the economic consequences of the major actions we take - or start recognizing that incentives matter and that the legislation we pass has profound economic consequences that must be taken into account.
April 2, 2014
Balancing this budget and ultimately paying down the national debt is a national security imperative; it is an economic imperative; and it is a moral imperative.
March 25, 2014
Last fall, 800,000 acre feet were drained from the Shasta, Oroville and Folsom reservoirs - nearly emptying Folsom lake completely - knowing full well that the region was in the middle of a potentially catastrophic drought.
Issues:Local Issues
March 19, 2014
Four years ago -- long before the current drought -- the Central Valley suffered from the deliberate diversion of 800,000 acre feet of water promised under the Bay Delta Accord. Instead, it was dumped into the Pacific Ocean for the amusement of the Delta Smelt. This wanton act caused the loss of a quarter-million acres of the most productive farmland in America, it threw thousands of families into unemployment, and it devastated this region. Now, a natural drought has compounded the regulatory drought.