[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 131 (Tuesday, July 27, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H3918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             KLAMATH BASIN

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, actions by the Federal Government are 
devastating the Klamath Basin on the north end of California and south 
Oregon. Earlier this year our government cut off all of the water for 
the Klamath Basin from the farmers and the wildlife in order to deal 
with Endangered Species Act rules for two competing species of fish.
  Madam Speaker, you can see the devastation last year with a duck kill 
that happened inside the refuge. We did manage to rescue this one.
  The wildlife refuge has no water. The farmers who also provide water, 
food, and resting areas for migratory birds now cannot provide food or 
habitat, and the entire basin is hurting. The government has created an 
ecological disaster that will result in the death of tens of thousands 
of federally protected migratory birds.
  Last year when the Bureau of Reclamation reduced the water by more 
than half, 60,000 birds died of botulism. I toured this area last year, 
and it is indeed devastating. This year there is zero water.
  There is no habitat for nesting birds and no feed for them from 
farmers. This is a government created disaster, and our environment and 
people are paying the price. We need to deliver the water that farmers 
own to the farmers, and that will also in turn help deliver water to 
the Federal refuge.
  Federal courts and the Bureau of Reclamation need to get out of the 
way and let the people on the ground succeed for food and for our 
wildlife.

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