[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 5, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H4252-H4253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SAVE OUR SALMON ACT
Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 4582) to exclude striped bass from the anadromous fish
doubling requirement in section 3406(b)(1) of the Central Valley
Project Improvement Act, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 4582
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 ``Save Our Salmon Act'' or the
``SOS Act''.
SEC. 2. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) California is home to many populations of native salmon
and steelhead.
(2) Many of the native salmon and steelhead populations in
California are listed under the Endangered Species Act of
1973.
(3) The Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA)
required a doubling of natural production of Central Valley
populations of anadromous fish within 10 years.
(4) Striped bass are anadromous fish indigenous to the East
Coast of the United States and are not native to the State of
California.
(5) Striped bass were included in the CVPIA's fish doubling
goal even though they are not a native species.
(6) Striped bass prey on native salmon and steelhead.
(7) Predation poses a serious threat to federally protected
juvenile salmon and other native fish in California.
(8) According to the National Marine Fisheries Service,
reducing abundance of striped bass and other non-native
predators must be achieved to prevent extinction of Central
Valley salmon and steelhead or to prevent the species from
declining irreversibly.
(9) Therefore, the CVPIA's fish-doubling goal for two
competing species is contradictory and counterproductive for
salmon and steelhead recovery.
SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF STRIPED BASS.
(a) Anadromous Fish.--Section 3403(a) of the Central Valley
Project Improvement Act (title XXXIV of Public Law 102-575)
is amended by striking ``striped bass,'' after ``stocks of
salmon (including steelhead),''.
(b) Fish and Wildlife Restoration Activities.--Section
3406(b) of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (title
XXXIV of Public Law 102-575) is amended by--
(1) striking paragraphs (14) and (18);
(2) redesignating paragraphs (15) through (17) as
paragraphs (14) through (16), respectively; and
(3) redesignating paragraphs (19) through (23) as
paragraphs (17) through (21), respectively.
(c) Restoration Fund Established.--Section 3407(a) of the
Central Valley Project Improvement Act (title XXXIV of Public
Law 102-575) is amended by striking ``(10)-(18), and (20)-
(22)'' and inserting ``(10)-(16), and (18)-(20)''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Wyoming (Mrs. Lummis) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Wyoming.
General Leave
Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Wyoming?
There was no objection.
Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Denham), the author of this bill.
Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4582, the Save Our Salmon Act, which I
introduced earlier this year, removes a contradiction in Federal law.
This Federal law mandates that not only do we double the amount of
threatened and endangered species, the salmon and steelhead, that we
spend so much time, effort, and money trying to save, but the
contradiction is it also wants us to double the striped bass that eat
98 percent of the fish we are trying to save.
This is a simple bill that is bipartisan that will save taxpayer
dollars and that will save our water in California while addressing
what we feel is a simple mistake.
Under the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, the CVPIA, this
doubling goal was set in place in 1992. Again, the steelhead and the
salmon are being eaten by the striped bass, which is a nonnative
predator fish. This mandated population doubling of the predator fish
has proven contradictory to protecting native species under the
Endangered Species Act.
This bill not only removes this provision, but at the request of the
administration, my bill also removes other sections in the CVPIA which
provide for the implementation of the strategies to double the striped
bass.
NOAA, NMFS, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife have
all indicated that predation of juvenile salmon is one of the primary
stressors to these endangered species. In California, predation is
rampant.
Predation of endangered fish in California continues to be one of the
major factors in the complex equation of California water and the
drought that our State faces. By eliminating this contradictory
provision in the CVPIA, native species will again thrive without
wasting the massive amounts of freshwater and taxpayer dollars
currently required to do so.
Again, this is a commonsense, easy solution for Republicans and
Democrats to agree on. If we want to save the threatened endangered
species, let's stop spending so much money on the very fish that eat 98
percent of the fish that we are trying to save.
I want to thank my colleagues from both sides of the aisle for
cosponsoring this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R.
4582.
Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the author, as the original cosponsor
of this important legislation, for trying to provide a balancing act in
maintaining the waters for all beneficial uses in California.
This legislation by Congressman Denham that has good bipartisan
support, H.R. 4582, is known also as the Save Our Salmon Act. It would
amend the Central Valley Project Improvement to exempt striped bass
from the law's fish-doubling goals.
One should understand that striped bass is a nonnative fish to
California that was introduced in the late 1800s. Unfortunately, for
the native salmon, the delta smelt, and other native fisheries, the
striped bass is a very aggressive predator fish. The fact is that they
eat not only juvenile salmon, but they eat delta smelt, which is part
of the food chain for the salmon. As a result of this introduction, the
striped bass are thriving, but, unfortunately, the native salmon of
California are not.
This measure, H.R. 4582, is the first step in a range of overall
policy decisions that we have got to take under consideration. Common
sense tells us that we must look at all--all--of the stressors that are
impacting the native fisheries of California. This attempts to do that
to aid salmon recovery by providing, also, an additional, more reliable
water supply for Californians.
Those in the San Joaquin Valley that Congressman Denham, others, and
I represent have been devastated by the impact of the drought over the
last 4, now going on 5, years. Farms, farm communities, and farmworkers
have lost their jobs as a result of a zero--zero--water allocation. We
don't even have a program to deal with what the Fish and Wildlife
agencies have indicated is one of the greatest impacts of native
species, which are predator fish. We don't have a predator control
program as we have on the Columbia River. It is about time we do
something about it.
While there are many stressors that impact the California salmon
populations, thereby impacting the water supply reliability for much of
California, this measure attempts to begin to do something about the
predator problem.
I want to commend again Congressman Denham for his ongoing efforts,
along with all of us, on a bipartisan effort to look at an overall
balanced solution.
I support H.R. 4582, and I urge its adoption.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. LUMMIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I want to commend these California Members. I have been to their
districts. I have seen and been at hearings in Fresno where these
issues have come to my level of understanding of now a
[[Page H4253]]
sympathetic outsider. These issues are almost intractable. When we see
bipartisan support on something this important to the economy, to the
farmers and ranchers, to the wonderful ecosystems that they are trying
to balance in a way that will conserve farming and ranching, that
benefits every consumer in this country of some of the finest fruits,
vegetables, and other commodities that you can ever imagine. I mean,
this is like the breadbasket of our country. To find ways to combat
nonnative species in a way that protects native species and also
protects the people who produce our food and fiber is so important.
I commend the gentlemen from California on both sides of the aisle
and their colleagues.
I want to offer my complete support of H.R. 4582.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Wyoming (Mrs. Lummis) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 4582, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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