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March 26, 2012
This nation is on a collision course with a sovereign debt crisis the magnitude of which we have never experienced. This is not some moonless night on the Atlantic. We are spending full speed ahead toward that iceberg of debt in the full light of day and we can all see it plainly.
Issues:Fiscal and Economic
March 26, 2012
The reason these times are so impassioned is because we have arrived at a moment when two very different visions of society are competing for our nation’s future, and they are very much reflected in the budgets put forward by the two parties in this House.
Issues:Fiscal and Economic
March 20, 2012
This year, we must produce legislation to remove the regulatory obstacles that are pointlessly and artificially making new water and power projects cost prohibitive. We must re-establish a practical structure to finance and approve those projects that meet clear and uniform cost-benefit analysis and that are paid for by the actual beneficiaries of these projects and not by general taxpayers.
Issues:Natural Resources Committee
February 29, 2012
In 2009 and 2010, hundreds of billions of gallons of contracted water were diverted away from California farms and instead dumped into the Pacific Ocean in the name of the Delta Smelt. This tragic policy fallowed hundreds of thousands of acres of some of the most fertile and productive farmland in America. It threw thousands of hard-working families into unemployment.
February 22, 2012
I have submitted a shorter letter responding to the Chronicle's front-page article by Carolyn Lochhead ("Central Valley reps bill would upend water rights," February 17, 2012), but believe the inaccuracies and omissions in it are so stark that it deserves a more detailed reply.
Issues:Natural Resources Committee
February 21, 2012
I remember when we met here in Auburn in April of 2010 under imminent threat of closure, all the "experts" said that the only way to keep the Auburn Project Area lands open would be with massive federal earmarks. I am pleased to note that today's announcement is the result not of federal earmarks, but rather of re-ordering federal priorities
February 16, 2012
As I said in my opening statement, this amendment has been painstakingly negotiated and crafted over a period of eight months
February 16, 2012
We are all aware of the human and economic tragedy that occurred in California's Central Valley in 2009 and 2010 when hundreds of billions of gallons of contracted water were diverted to the ocean in the name of the Delta Smelt. This policy fallowed between a quarter million and a half million acres of some of the most productive farmland in America
Issues:Natural Resources Committee
February 8, 2012
This bill presents us with a simple question: "It is possible - just possible - that from time to time Congress has passed a spending bill or two that ought to have had greater scrutiny?" The answer to this question might elude some members of the House, but I assure them it is self-evident to everybody else.
Issues:Fiscal and Economic
February 8, 2012
Thank you for the invitation to join you again this year. What has brought me to support Indian gaming is not just the commerce and prosperity that it produces. There are two more fundamental principles at stake that make this a just and noble cause.
One is the tribal sovereignty that made the once impoverished Indian reservations islands of freedom in an ocean of anti-business regulations emanating from local, state and federal governments.