[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 149 (Thursday, September 14, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H7414]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        BUREAU OF RECLAMATION MUST EXPLAIN IMPROPER USE OF FUNDS

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, a recent Federal audit found that the Obama 
administration improperly used, via the Bureau of Reclamation, $84 
million on California Governor Jerry Brown's pet project, the Delta 
tunnels. In planning, this is a project that would transfer water from 
northern California, where my district is, to southern California.
  This comes after years of assurance that no tax dollars would be 
spent on the Governor's controversial legacy project, nor was there 
even an appropriation made by Congress to do so, and that is where the 
problem is. It is the illegal use of Federal dollars in the planning of 
this project.
  Taxpayers ended up paying for a large portion of this project's 
planning costs without their knowledge and, again, without Congress' 
authorization, which is obviously unacceptable.
  The Bureau of Reclamation needs to explain to Congress how and why 
this happened, and the employees and the appointees who carried it out 
must be held responsible.
  More importantly, California needs to repay every penny to the 
Federal Government and the taxpayers of the other 49 States for this 
illegal use and improper use.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not a small thing. Congress and the American 
people need to know what is happening with this and not be lied to.

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