[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H4591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 ENDANGERED SALMON PREDATION PREVENTION

  (Mr. SCHRADER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SCHRADER. Mr. Speaker, the Pacific Northwest is facing an 
unprecedented and growing problem of sea lions who are decimating our 
endangered salmon and steelhead runs in the Columbia and Willamette 
Rivers.
  Right now, in front of my district office in Oregon City, there are 
24 sea lions sitting at the base of Willamette Falls gorging themselves 
on the spring salmon run. This is 127 miles from the Pacific Ocean, 
their natural habitat.
  This salmon buffet of endangered fish costs Northwest ratepayers 
nearly $1 billion a year: a third of our electric bill.
  We need to pass H.R. 2083, the Endangered Salmon and Fisheries 
Predation Prevention Act, now. I introduced this bill, along with my 
Northwest colleague, Jaime Herrera Beutler.
  It will provide Oregon and Washington wildlife managers with the 
tools they need, that they requested, to quickly act to remove problem 
sea lions to protect these endangered fish.
  If we don't act now, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife says that 
there is a 90 percent chance the Willamette winter steelhead run will 
go extinct in the next few years.
  Mr. Speaker, it would be unconscionable to let this happen. We know 
the problem, and it is identified. Let's take action.

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