[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 82 (Monday, May 19, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H4074-H4075]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   LAKE HODGES SURFACE WATER IMPROVEMENT AND RECLAMATION ACT OF 2008

  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 2649) to make amendments to the Reclamation Projects 
Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 2649

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Lake Hodges Surface Water 
     Improvement and Reclamation Act of 2008''.

     SEC. 2. PROJECT AUTHORIZATION.

       (a) In General.--The Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater 
     Study and Facilities Act (Public Law 102-575, title XVI; 43 
     U.S.C. 390h et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 
     16__ the following:

     ``SEC. 16__. LAKE HODGES SURFACE WATER IMPROVEMENT AND 
                   RECLAMATION PROJECT.

       ``(a) Authorization.--The Secretary, in cooperation with 
     the Olivenhain Municipal Water District, California, is 
     authorized to participate in the design, planning, and 
     construction of projects to treat, reclaim, and reuse 
     impaired surface water from Lakes Hodges in San Diego County, 
     California.
       ``(b) Cost Share.--The Federal share of the costs of the 
     projects authorized by this section shall not exceed 25 
     percent of the total cost.
       ``(c) Limitation.--The Secretary shall not provide funds 
     for the operation or maintenance of a project authorized by 
     this section.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections in section 2 
     of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act 
     of 1992 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
     section 163__ the following:

``Sec. 163__. Lake Hodges surface water improvement and reclamation 
              project.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Guam (Ms. Bordallo) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Guam.


                             General Leave

  Ms. BORDALLO. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members may have 5 days to revise and extend their remarks and 
include

[[Page H4075]]

extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Guam?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  H.R. 2649, as amended, authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, 
acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to participate in the Lake 
Hodges Surface Water Improvement and Reclamation Project. This project 
would pretreat 13,000 acre-feet of impaired Lake Hodges water currently 
unavailable for consumptive use.
  We have no objection to this noncontroversial bill, and I reserve the 
balance of my time.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation. The 
author of the bill, who will speak in a moment, and I share the very 
banks of this water area of Lake Hodges. But, most importantly, at a 
time in which gas prices have risen to $4 a gallon, it's very clear 
that importing water or desalinating water in southern California, 
although necessary, should be avoided. We need to find ways to do 
better work, have more water, with less consumption of gasoline, 
diesel, and all the other fuels that are in such short supply and so 
expensive. So I strongly support this bill.
  I would yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from 
California, the author of the bill, Mr. Bilbray.
  Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2649, a bill that 
is looking at a precious resource that needs to be cleaned up and used.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you in working and speaking with me 
about other challenges we have environmentally around this country, one 
of them being the fact the Federal Government is still mandating the 
polluting of our air and the picking of our pockets with the mandate of 
corn and ethanol going into our gasoline. I don't know about in your 
State, but in our State, that impact has reached $6 a comparable gallon 
untaxed ethanol being forced into our fuel system by the misguided 
approaches here in Washington.
  I look forward to working with you in eliminating that mandate and 
protecting our air and protecting consumers when we go to the pump. But 
as we talk about liquid gold, out west it is not just gasoline and 
ethanol that are liquid gold, but actually clean drinking water. This 
bill would address a problem that has actually been created by a well-
intentioned but misguided application of the Endangered Species Act and 
other Federal regulatory activities.

                              {time}  1245

  Where Lake Hodges had traditionally had a clean watershed kept clear 
from debris and undergrowth, because of the Federal agencies' misguided 
application of our environmental regulations, such as the Endangered 
Species Act, the local agencies and community were not allowed to clear 
the watershed while the water was low so that once the water did rise 
up we did not have rotting organic material in our water source. Sadly, 
Mr. Speaker, that has occurred, and the water quality of the lake is 
now in violation of the Clean Water Act, 303(d). This bill will allow 
us to give a portion of the money, probably around one-quarter of it, 
to allow the local community now to purify the water so that it can be 
compatible with 303 of the Clean Water Act.
  I hope that we will be able to work together, pass this bill, and be 
able to work with the local community. I look forward to working with 
you, Mr. Speaker, at not only cleaning up our water, but cleaning up 
our air and taking that ethanol out of our gasoline.
  Mr. ISSA. I have no additional speakers at this time. I would urge 
strong support for this bill which, like so many, will help California 
deal with its water shortage.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. BORDALLO. Mr. Speaker, I again urge all Members to support the 
bill, and yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Guam (Ms. Bordallo) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 2649, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. ISSA. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

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