House passes salmon disaster relief 

The Times-Standard

May 12, 2007  

The U.S. House of Representatives House passed an emergency spending bill Thursday that would provide much-needed funding for the Pacific salmon fisheries disaster, rural schools, agricultural disaster relief and wildfire emergencies.

”This bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support because it provides emergency relief to hundreds of communities across the country,” said North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson.

The bill includes $60.4 million for California and Oregon 's commercial salmon fishing industry, a provision introduced by Thompson. The relief is needed for fishermen, tribes and businesses impacted by the commercial fishery failure of 2006, which Thompson said was due to irresponsible Bush Administration water policies.

”The emergency relief for our salmon industry is long overdue,” said Thompson. “Last year's commercial salmon fishing closure was the largest in U.S. history. The affected families and businesses need aid right away, and the president's claim that they should take out loans is illustrative of his disconnect from the real needs of working Americans.”

The emergency spending bill also includes $425 million owed to rural counties. This funding goes to areas made up of large amounts of federally-owned land. The federal land is exempt from property tax, so these areas qualify for federal dollars for their schools and roads. The previous majority in Congress failed to appropriate these funds last year.

President Bush has threatened to veto this spending bill. Thompson called this “a slap in the face to millions of hard-working Americans.”

In regard to the salmon disaster relief, Thompson said, “ North Coast salmon fishing families and businesses are suffering because of the president's wrong-headed decision to divert water from the Klamath River . To suggest that these people don't deserve federal aid is like rubbing salt in their wounds.”

”Due to the fishing closure last year, my business lost $50,000,” Deniel Caouette, owner of Deniel's Place Café in Klamath, said in a press release. “That may not seem like much to the president, but we're holding on by a thread and his suggestion that we just 'borrow' the money reveals how out of touch he is with plight of working people on the Klamath River .”

The president's veto is also a rejection of funding for the nation's rural schools, Thompson said.

The spending bill, entitled the Agriculture Disaster Assistance and Western States Emergency Unfinished Business Appropriations Act of 2007, now goes to a vote in the U.S. Senate.

There is already enough support in the House to override the president's veto.

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Source:  http://times-standard.com/local/ci_5881688