[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 110 (Tuesday, July 21, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H8448]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NOTICE OF INTENTION TO OFFER RESOLUTION RAISING A QUESTION OF THE 
                        PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. NUNES. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule IX, I rise 
to give notice of my intention to raise a question of the privileges of 
the House.
  The form of the resolution is as follows:

       Whereas, on May 25, 2007, U.S. District Court Judge Oliver 
     W. Wanger issued a ruling that directed the Bureau of 
     Reclamation to reduce water exports from the Sacramento-San 
     Joaquin River Delta to protect a three-inch minnow called the 
     Delta smelt;
       Whereas, on December 15, 2008, the United States Fish and 
     Wildlife Service, based on the Wanger Ruling, issued a 
     Biological Opinion on the Delta smelt that permanently 
     reduced water export from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River 
     Delta which is traditionally delivered to cities and farms in 
     the San Joaquin Valley and the Los Angeles and San Diego 
     basins;
       Whereas according to a University of California at Davis 
     study, based on the water reductions outlined in the Delta 
     smelt Biological Opinion, revenue losses in the San Joaquin 
     Valley of California for 2009 will be $2.2 billion and job 
     losses at 80,000;
       Whereas according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 
     the unemployment rate in the San Joaquin Valley has reached 
     the highest level in the Nation;
       Whereas region wide unemployment in the San Joaquin Valley 
     of California is nearly 20 percent and some cities have an 
     unemployment rate of 40 percent;
       Whereas thousands of people who once relied on employment 
     in the agricultural sector are now unemployed and struggling 
     to meet their most basic needs, such as providing food for 
     their families;
       Whereas, on March, 1, 2009, the Sacramento Bee reported 
     thousands of people have been turned away from local food 
     banks as supplies are not ample enough to meet local needs;
       Whereas, on April 14, 2009, the Fresno County, California, 
     Board of Supervisors proclaimed that the man-made drought has 
     created an economic crisis;
       Whereas on June 4, 2009, despite the ongoing man-made 
     drought in California, the National Marine Fisheries Service 
     issued a new Biological Opinion on the spring-run Chinook 
     salmon, Central Valley steelhead, the southern population of 
     North American green sturgeon, and Southern Resident killer 
     whales which further reduces water supplies to Californians;
       Whereas, on June 19, 2009, California's Governor Arnold 
     Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency for Fresno 
     County, California, and petitioned President Barack Obama to 
     declare the county a Federal disaster area;
       Whereas on June 28, 2009, the Secretary of the Interior Ken 
     Salazar visited Fresno, California, and held a town hall 
     meeting in which nearly 1,000 people attended to express 
     their dissatisfaction with the lack of action by the Obama 
     Administration;
       Whereas, on July 6, 2009, the Los Angeles Times reported 
     that during Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's town hall 
     meeting on June 28, 2009, the Commissioner of the Bureau of 
     Reclamation, Mike Connor, pledged to provide financial aid to 
     starving families and an audience member replied ``we don't 
     want welfare, we want water'';
       Whereas, on June 29, 2009, CBS 5 Eyewitness News reported 
     that hundreds of San Joaquin Valley farmers protested outside 
     the Federal Building Plaza in San Francisco which houses 
     Speaker Nancy Pelosi's district office;
       Whereas, on June 29, 2009, CBS 5 Eyewitness News reported 
     the protestors blamed Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congressman 
     George Miller for the water shortage in the San Joaquin 
     Valley;
       Whereas, on June 29, 2009, CBS 5 Eyewitness News reported 
     that protestors were holding signs that said ``ESA Puts Fish 
     Ahead of People'', ``Congress Created Drought'', and ``New 
     Endangered Species: The California Farmer'';
       Whereas, on July 1, 2009, the Fresno Bee reported that a 
     crowd of 4,000 marched through the streets of Fresno, 
     California, to demand that the Federal Government end the 
     man-made drought;
       Whereas, on June 18, 2009, the Democrat leadership held 
     open Roll Call Vote 366 for the purpose of changing the 
     outcome of the vote;
       Whereas during this vote, House Democrat leadership was 
     seen on the House floor pressuring Members of Congress to 
     change their Aye vote to a Nay vote in order to defeat the 
     Nunes Amendment which would have helped to relieve the water 
     crisis in California;
       Whereas, on July 8, 2009, during the mark-up on the Energy 
     and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations 
     Act, 2010, a debate was held on the Calvert Amendment which 
     would have restored water deliveries to Californians;
       Whereas during the mark-up, the Chairman of the 
     Appropriations Committee, David Obey, said ``Recognize there 
     are certain actions, that if you take, this bill won't pass, 
     your earmarks in the bill won't become law'';
       Whereas Chairman Obey violated Clause 16 of House Rule 23 
     by linking passage of the Calvert Amendment to loss of 
     earmarks;
       Whereas, on July 14, 2009, despite historical tradition of 
     open rules during the appropriations process, the Rules 
     Committee blocked an amendment to the Energy and Water 
     Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 
     that would have restored water deliveries to Californians;
       Whereas, for two years, the House of Representatives has 
     known about the man-made drought in California without taking 
     legislative action to resolve the crisis;
       Whereas the lack of action by the House of Representatives 
     has demonstrated that fish are more important than families;
       Whereas article 1, section 8 of the United States 
     Constitution enumerates that the Congress shall have the 
     power to provide for the general welfare of the United 
     States;
       Whereas the House of Representatives has willfully and 
     knowingly failed to provide for the general welfare of the 
     San Joaquin Valley of California; and
       Whereas the failure of the House of Representatives to 
     carry out its duties has subjected the House to public 
     ridicule and damaged the dignity and integrity of the House 
     of Representatives: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Committee on Natural Resources is 
     instructed to discharge H.R. 3105, the Turn on the Pumps Act 
     of 2009, for immediate consideration by the House of 
     Representatives.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under rule IX, a resolution offered from the 
floor by a Member other than the majority leader or the minority leader 
as a question of the privileges of the House has immediate precedence 
only at a time designated by the Chair within 2 legislative days after 
the resolution is properly noticed.
  Pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the 
gentleman from California will appear in the Record at this point.
  The Chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution 
constitutes a question of privilege. That determination will be made at 
the time designated for consideration of the resolution.

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