Rick Santorum may have had a point the other day when he said that some environmentalists care more about animals than people. Take the water restrictions the federal government has imposed on California farmers to protect the three-inch delta smelt. Environmentalists have long complained that the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta's pumps, which send water to Central Valley farmers and southern California residents, trap and kill fish. In 2006 the Natural Resources Defense Council sued the U.S....
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It’s highly unlikely but somewhere in America there may yet be a more heart-wrenching example of human misery caused by Big Green environmental extremism than the dust bowl that California’s Central Valley is becoming. Regardless, the House of Representatives has an opportunity today to put an end to the needless devastation wreaked upon America’s most fertile farmlands in order to protect the delta smelt, a three-inch fish found almost exclusively in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley estuary. B...
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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. “Representatives from the Central Valley pushed legislation through a House committee Thursday that would upend the state's system of water rights, deploying the federal government to extract water from Northern Californi...
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Today, the House Natural Resources Committee approved on a bipartisan basis H.R. 1837, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act. The bill will restore the flow of water to farms and rural communities, while protecting the property rights of all Californians. It will also make unnecessary the construction of a $12 billion peripheral canal to bypass the Bay-Delta. “I commend the hard work of Chairman Doc Hastings, Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock, and Rep. Jeff Denham. Their eff...
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Representative Devin Nunes (CA-21) today announced that the House Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a markup for H.R. 1837, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act. The markup will occur on Thursday, February 16, 2012. Consideration by the full House is expected in the coming weeks. "I am pleased that after four years of inaction by Democratic super-majorities in Congress, we are now – under Republican leadership - able to move forward with a solution to California’s gove...
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Rep. Devin Nunes released the following statement regarding the vote today in the House of Representatives to extend the payroll tax cut: "The President demanded a one-year extension to the payroll tax cut and the House of Representatives agreed by passing a one-year extension. The Senate disregarded prudent policy by passing a mere 60-day extension and ran home for Christmas. This is unacceptable and creates economic uncertainty for working families and businesses. The Senate needs to return to...
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Today Congressman Devin Nunes testified before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which held an important oversight hearing on the skyrocketing cost of California high-speed rail. “The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure gave opponents of California high-speed rail a unique opportunity to tell members why they oppose this growingly unpopular project,” said Congressman Nunes. “We need to look for better options to high- speed rail, such as freight rail and ...
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Congressman Nunes today released the following statement following the White House announcement that the San Joaquin River restoration would be one of President Obama’s top 14 infrastructure projects. “This announcement is astounding. The President claims to be for creating jobs but unless you are a career activist in the radical environmental movement, you are simply out of luck. With California in such dire economic straits and with the federal debt piled higher than at any point in our nation...
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President Obama claims to support jobs through investments in infrastructure. Yet his actions suggest his real priority is to deliver political favors to left-wing activists. Here is what the President promised on November 2, 2011— “no more earmarks, no more bridges to nowhere. We're going to stop the picking of projects based on political gain and start picking them based on two criteria: how badly they're needed out there and how much good they'll do for our economy.” President Obama recently ...
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"The business plan released today should convince even the most loyal high speed rail advocate to re-examine the project. For years, government watchdogs – including the state’s own auditor – have warned of the pervasive mismanagement and deceptive assumptions used by the High Speed Rail Authority. Now we are provided a business plan that pegs the cost of completing the bullet train at $98 billion. It simply isn’t going to happen – not unless the Authority can convince the Chinese government to ...
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