Home Delta McNerney Fights To Protect The Delta, Votes Against HR 3964

McNerney Fights To Protect The Delta, Votes Against HR 3964

by ECT

Delta

Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-Stockton) voted against H.R. 3964, a bill that would have devastating effects on the Delta region.

“California is facing a severe drought; we need commonsense solutions that work to address our state’s long-term water infrastructure.  The families, farmers, and small businesses in our region depend on a healthy Delta, and I will continue to fight for our community.”

Rep. McNerney offered an amendment to H.R. 3964, to protect the quality of water essential to the economic sustainability of the Delta region farmers and ranchers.  The amendment would prevent the bill from taking effect until the Secretaries of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture determine that water quality for the Delta region agriculture would not be negatively affected.

“The farmers and growers of San Joaquin County’s nearly $3 billion agriculture industry rely on high quality water for their products,” said Rep. McNerney.  “As currently written, H.R. 3964 will increase shipments of water out of the Delta, further threatening the water quality for farmers and devastating the local economy.”

California’s current drought state of emergency threatens the 81,000 farmers and ranchers throughout the state.  H.R. 3964 will take water from the Delta and distribute it to a small portion of the state, while not creating any new water in the Delta region.

“Shipping additional water out of the Delta will turn this vital natural resource into a salty, stagnant marsh at the cost of thousands of local jobs,” said Rep. McNerney.  “We need to work on a bipartisan basis to address California’s water needs.  This is not about just one portion of California.  The entire state is being hard hit by water shortages, and it will take all parties working together to establish a long-term solution.”

Here is a look at the votes:

The Bill did pass the House 229 to 191 but will have a tough time passing through the Senate. If it passes the Senate, President Obama has threatened to veto the bill.

California
Aye  RLaMalfa, DougCA 1st
No  DHuffman, JaredCA 2nd
No  DGaramendi, JohnCA 3rd
Aye  RMcClintock, TomCA 4th
No  DThompson, MikeCA 5th
No  DMatsui, DorisCA 6th
No  DBera, AmiCA 7th
Aye  RCook, PaulCA 8th
No  DMcNerney, JerryCA 9th
Aye  RDenham, JeffCA 10th
No  DMiller, GeorgeCA 11th
No  DPelosi, NancyCA 12th
No  DLee, BarbaraCA 13th
No  DSpeier, JackieCA 14th
No  DSwalwell, EricCA 15th
Aye  DCosta, JimCA 16th
No  DHonda, MikeCA 17th
No  DEshoo, AnnaCA 18th
No  DLofgren, ZoeCA 19th
No  DFarr, SamCA 20th
Aye  RValadao, DavidCA 21st
Aye  RNunes, DevinCA 22nd
Aye  RMcCarthy, KevinCA 23rd
No  DCapps, LoisCA 24th
Aye  RMcKeon, BuckCA 25th
No  DBrownley, JuliaCA 26th
No  DChu, JudyCA 27th
No  DSchiff, AdamCA 28th
No  DCárdenas, TonyCA 29th
No  DSherman, BradCA 30th
No Vote  RMiller, GaryCA 31st
No  DNapolitano, GraceCA 32nd
No  DWaxman, HenryCA 33rd
No  DBecerra, XavierCA 34th
No  DNegrete McLeod, GloriaCA 35th
No  DRuiz, RaulCA 36th
No  DBass, KarenCA 37th
No  DSánchez, LindaCA 38th
Aye  RRoyce, EdCA 39th
No  DRoybal-Allard, LucilleCA 40th
No  DTakano, MarkCA 41st
Aye  RCalvert, KenCA 42nd
No  DWaters, MaxineCA 43rd
No  DHahn, JaniceCA 44th
Aye  RCampbell, JohnCA 45th
No  DSanchez, LorettaCA 46th
No  DLowenthal, AlanCA 47th
Aye  RRohrabacher, DanaCA 48th
Aye  RIssa, DarrellCA 49th
Aye  RHunter, DuncanCA 50th
No  DVargas, JuanCA 51st
No  DPeters, ScottCA 52nd
No  DDavis, SusanCA 53rd

About HR 3964:

If passed

  • Strip Endangered Species protections for iconic salmon and other endangered species, which are required under both California state law and federal law.
  • Overturn the court approved San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act that, after twenty years of litigation, provided water for the San Joaquin River and salmon. All parties to the litigation and numerous water districts in the San Joaquin Valley supported the Settlement and the Act.
  • Gut the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, which requires compliance with state law, encourages water conservation, makes modest reforms to reduce water subsidies, and contributes water for the recovery of endangered fish species.
  • Override current protection for the Merced River under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and modify water contracts for certain contractors to provide significantly more water than they are entitled to under their current contracts.

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