from today. It is time I believe for this kind of a common sense 

 change represented by the CVPRA. And the Chair will now recog- 

 nize the ranking member for any statement he may wish to make. 



STATEMENT OF HON. PETER DEFAZIO, A U.S. 

 REPRESENTATIVE FROM OREGON 



Mr. DeFazio. I thank the Chairman, and although Oregon's prin- 

 cipal interest in this is to make certain there are no proposals crop- 

 ping forth to supplement your water supply from our state, I real- 

 ize this is a major issue in California, and I would at this point 

 Sield to the ranking member of the committee, Mr. Miller, and cede 

 im my time. 



STATEMENT OF HON. GEORGE MILLER, A U.S. 

 REPRESENTATIVE FROM CALIFORNIA 



Mr. Miller. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. DeFazio, for 

 jdelding this time. Two and a half years ago, the Congress over- 

 whelmingly approved and President Bush signed into law the 

 Central Valley Improvement Act to address the severe inequities 

 and failures associated with the operation of the Central Valley 

 Project. 



The law was designed to reform water policy designed over 50 

 years ago when California was a very different place. We had a 

 lengthy and a very vigorous debate. Not surprisingly, those who 

 long enjoyed the massive subsidies and supplies of the Central Val- 

 ley Project fought to retain their special privileges against the 

 needs of over 20 million other Californians. 



The old order overwhelmingly lost that debate. Reform was de- 

 manded — reform in purpose, in distribution, in management, and 

 in financing. Over the past two years, we have begun the effort to 

 push those reforms into place. We have already seen major bene- 

 fits. Last December, the comprehensive Federal-state Bay-Delta 

 agreement was finally negotiated. Standard and Poor's has up- 

 graded state bonds in response to unprecedented progress on end- 

 ing our state's divisive water wars. 



H.R. 1906 is brought to you by those who want to reopen the 

 war. It was drafted by those who have bitterly fought all efforts to 

 modernize water policy and bring it into conformity with our na- 

 tional goals on the environment, on economic growth, on jobs, and 

 on deficit reduction. They are back for one more bite at the apple. 



The authors of this legislation do not speak for all Californians. 

 Indeed, on the same day that eight Californians introduced this 

 bill, 15 joined in a letter supporting the Central Valley Improve- 

 ment Act and opposed sweeping amendments that would alter the 

 goals and policies of the law. There is no consensus behind this bill. 



Changes can always be justified if they improve our ability to 

 meet the goals of the policy. The Administration is working to ad- 

 dress legitimate concerns through a rulemaking process and other 

 administrative actions. But let us be very clear. H.R. 1906 is not 

 about fixing the CVPIA. It is about destroying it — repealing the re- 

 forms and giving back control of our water to subsidize agriculture 

 at the expense of our cities, our suburbs, our businesses, our recre- 

 ation, our commercial fishing interest, and the environment, and 

 millions of taxpayers who subsidize this project. 



