[env-trinity] Congressman George Miller on Salmon Disaster

Byron bwl3 at comcast.net
Wed Jun 28 16:39:25 PDT 2006


REP. Miller and West coast DEMOCrats 

FIGHT FOR federal aid to salmon Fishermen 

    

WASHINGTON, DC - Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and other West Coast Democrats
vowed today to block regular order in the House of Representatives in an
effort to win $81 million in immediate disaster relief to the salmon
fishermen and women of California and Oregon and the businesses and
communities that depend on them. 

 

Despite the near-total closure of the 2006 salmon season and the destruction
of the Klamath fishery, the Bush Administration has refused to declare a
federal disaster in this industry.  Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) is proposing
an amendment to provide $81 million in aid to the affected businesses and
communities but House Republican leaders are refusing to allow the House to
debate or vote on his amendment.  The West Coast Democratic lawmakers
promised today to delay regular order in the House because their right to
offer this amendment is being denied.  The House is considering a federal
spending bill that directly relates to the fishing industry, among other
issues.

 

"President Bush and his radical rubberstamp Republican allies in Congress
have simply abandoned salmon fishermen, small businesses and local
communities along the west coast," said Miller.  "Democrats in the House
have not abandoned our communities and we will do everything we can to fight
for the federal aid that they deserve during this difficult fishing season.

 

"The question is whether President Bush is on the side of these small
businessmen and women or not. He has been unwilling to help these families,
despite his party's rhetoric claiming to be on the side of small
businesses," Miller added. "Apparently, this Administration plans to do
nothing until fishermen and their communities have lost their boats and gone
bankrupt before they make a decision on this critical issue.  But they could
declare an emergency and provide immediate relief to the families who are
hurting if they wanted to do that.  The Republican leadership needs to stop
thwarting our efforts to help west coast communities and small businesses in
the fishing industry and allow the House to vote on the Thompson amendment."

 

Miller noted that the rights of the minority in Congress have been severely
limited under GOP rule.  Frequently, Democrats are not allowed to offer
amendments that are relevant to the bill under consideration at that time.
But there are still tools lawmakers can use to block or delay regular order
to make the point that they deserve to have their amendments considered.
The lawmakers promised today to use those tools to pressure the Republican
leadership to allow the Thompson amendment to be considered.  

 

Background on 2006 Salmon Fisheries Crisis

 

Several Democratic members co-authored legislation (H.R.5213) this year to
address both the short- and long-term problems plaguing the Klamath fishery.
Miller, Thompson, and others have also repeatedly asked the Department of
Commerce to declare a disaster so that Congress can provide immediate
assistance to the affected fishermen and women and communities. The
Department has refused to do so and says it may be impossible to make such a
declaration until February 2007.   

 

The Klamath River runs from Oregon through Northern California, and has been
badly mismanaged by the Bush administration for political gain.  In 2002, on
behalf of the farm industry, the Bush Administration directed water to be
diverted from the river, which resulted in a massive fish kill. This year's
drastically reduced number of returning salmon is directly attributable to
the 2002 fish kill and a parasitic infection resulting from poor federal
management of the river.

 

Here's how the
<http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-hamburger25jun25,1,329
3272.story?ctrack=1&cset=true> LA Times wrote about the Administration's
actions.

 

"All administrations are political, of course. But never before has the
White House inserted electoral priorities into Cabinet agencies with such
regularity and deliberation. Before the 2002 midterm elections, for
instance, Rove or Mehlman visited with the managers of many federal agencies
to share polling information and discuss how policy decisions might affect
key races.

 

"In 2002, Rove told Interior Department officials of the importance of
helping farmers in Oregon whose political support was crucial to Gordon
Smith, a vulnerable Republican senator. Within months, perhaps because of
Rove's exhortations, the agency did just that, supporting the diversion of
water from the environmentally important Klamath River for the sake of
irrigating farmland. Thousands of salmon eventually died in the newly
shallow waters. But the senator secured his reelection."

 

 

Byron Leydecker

Chair, Friends of Trinity River

Advisor, California Trout, Inc

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 ph

415 383 9562 fx

bwl3 at comcast.net

bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org

http://www.fotr.org

http:www.caltrout.org 

 

 

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