mr. garamendi: mr. speaker, i don't know if it's propper to ask you a question but is this february 2? i'm reminded of the movie "groundhog day." we continue to repeat what happened yesterday and the year before. this is a repetition of a bill that came to the floor two years ago. it was a bill that had a lot of different pieces to it but was very, very simple in what it accomplished or attempted to accomplish, and that was to take water from someone, the environment, fish, and the delta, farmers, communities, contracosta county, the east bay of san francisco, and deliver it to someone else. that would be the san luis unit of the central valley project. it was two years ago. must be february 2. must be ground hogg day because we're doing -- groundhog day because we're doing it all over again. whatever whistles and bells and bows you want to put on it, this is essentially a theft of water from someone to give to somebody else. plain and simple. that's what it's about. in this case, the water is going to

mr. garamendi, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. garamendi: thank you, mr. speaker. it's actually mr. garamendi and i'm delighted to be back on the floor once again with another -- won't take a whole hour here, but i wanted to talk about something that's very important to america and to the future of this country. i'd like to start these discussions with, what are we all about? what should we be thinking about? i find myself often going back to franklin delano roosevelt, during a very difficult time in america's history, the great depression, he put forth a principle, if you would, a values statement, of what he was about and really what this country could and should be about and he said, the test of our progress is not whether we are -- whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. it's a values statement. it's a statement of what i like to believe i'm here for. to deal with this profound, important issue in this and other -- in this, another period of str

mr. garamendi, of a long line of suit wearing americans looking for jobs. and yet this congress, my friends on the other side of the aisle, have refused to pass the extended unemployment insurance, emergency unemployment insurance. yet they pass legislation or put legislation on the floor pretending to create opportunities for american workers. i can tell you what will create opportunities for american workers is extend the unemployment insurance. or pass my legislation, h.r. 3888, that provides training for individuals for newly created job skills. or in fact as so many of us have done, sign the discharge petition, to raise the minimum wage. that's a story for creating jobs or lifting up the opportunities for the american people. this amendment says simply, if you join us and you believe in job growth, if there is a regulatory that deals with job growth. then this is the amendment that you should support. and i would argue you should support the increase in the minimum wage and today we should put on the floor of the house the extension of the unemployment

mr. obama is setting aside a 1 billion fund to help communities across the country to research climate change. joining us now for more reaction to this california's democratic congressman john garamendi, welcome, great to have you here today. >> also good to be with you. >> for folks living outside of your state, give us a sense of just how bad the drought has been and why the federal government is now stepping in to offer millions in aid. >> well, we have a really, really serious problem. this is the worst drought california's ever experienced since the 1840s when we began to bring in the european culture. it is serious. our reservoirs are down 20% of norm -- 20%, not normal, just 20% of water in them. we have a very, very serious problem for the far north of california all the way to the southern imperial county on the mexican border. and this extends beyond california, it's also nevada, arizona, new mexico, and west texas. so, it's a western problem, it needs federal assistance. a lot of things need to be done. you mentioned direct help to the farmers, yes, but communities are also running out of water, so we need to dig deeper wells and bring water from other areas and we're goin