[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 43 (Thursday, March 18, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF A SENSE OF CONGRESS RESOLUTION REGARDING THE DAMS ON 
                     THE COLUMBIA AND SNAKE RIVERS

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                           HON. DOC HASTINGS

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 18, 1999

  Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Speaker, the people of the Pacific Northwest are 
currently engaged in a debate on the best way to ensure the survival 
and recovery of endangered and threatened salmon and steelhead. These 
fish are very important to the people of our region, and we are 
dedicated to ensuring their survival.
  However, Mr. Speaker, ongoing studies by the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers and the National Marine Fisheries Service into the 
feasibility of removing federal dams to enhance fish runs have focused 
the fish recovery debate too narrowly. We do not need to choose between 
our economy and our salmon, which is precisely what those advocating 
the removal of dams are asking us to do. Instead, I believe we can have 
both a strong economy and healthy fish runs.
  This Congress must make it clear that destroying the dams on the 
Columbia and Snake Rivers is not a ``silver bullet'' solution to 
restoring salmon runs. Losing the flood control, irrigation, clean 
power generation, and transportation benefits of these dams would be a 
grave mistake, and one not easily corrected. Instead, the federal 
government and the people of the Pacific Northwest must work together 
to address the entire range of factors impacting fish populations: 
habitat, harvest levels, hatcheries, dams, predators, and natural 
climate and ocean conditions.
  Mr. Speaker, I am confident that the people of the Northwest will 
save our salmon. But we must do so in a realistic and comprehensive 
way, and not by grasping for easy answers. I encourage all my 
colleagues to who believe that we can balance human needs with the 
needs of endangered and threatened species to support this resolution.

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