[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 14] [House] [Pages 18508-18509] [From the U.S. 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; [[Page 18509]] 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. ____________________