mr. huffman: thank you. mr. speaker, we have heard a lot about a three-inch fish in this debate and in fact i hear my colleagues on the republican party tell it, this is a story about a three-inch fish that is taking water away in this critical drought that should be allocated to people. well, the truth is, mr. speaker, you'd have to have the brain of a three-inch fish to believe that narrative. there is no such thing happening in this critical drought year. what is happening, however, is some people are cynically trying to capitalize on the worst drought in california history in order to steal water from some parts of the state and from other water users and give it to a few. in fact, if this bill were accurately named, it would be called the massive federal preemption overreach and theft act for the elections of 2014. but it is in fact pretending to be something quite different. we need to ask ourselves why the state of california is so passionately opposing this bill. attorney general wrote a letter just yest

mr. huffman. mr. huffman: i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the speaker: the chair will entertain up to 15 requests for one-minute speeches on each side of the aisle. for what purpose does the entlelady from florida rise? without objection. ms. ros-lehtinen: mr. speaker, i rise today to honor matt cowdry on being named australia's 2013 multiclass swimmer of the year. matt is serving as a fellow in my office as part of the uni capital -- uni capitol washington internalship program. matt is no stranger to success. he is the most decorated paraolympic at lead of all time in australia, having won 13 gold medals and 23 overall in athens, beijing and london. even though matt was born down under, he exemplifies the american spirit and is a testimony to the power of hard work and determination. matt, it's been wonderful having you be part of our congressional team and i l

mr. huffman. mr. huffman: last time california hadded this kind of drought, we came together, i was fortunate to serve in the state legislature to work on that. national newspapers called it the biggest thing california had done for water in years. this bill repeals it. the bay delta conservation plan which my friend referenced is over if this bill passes because the premise of that plan are co-equal goalers in environment and water supply reliability and when you preempt and repeal that there's no basis for that plan to move forward at all. you better include some funding for the federal courts if this bill passes because instead of a solution, you're going to be unleashing a wave of litigation unlike anything the state of california has ever seen. it's going to hurt the san joaquin valley and every other part of the state that needs constructive solutions not a new water war. we have deference to state of california and all other states in administering our water system. that was made clear by chief

when president huffman and the assembly members in the black caucus led by mr. hall said they were going to do this bridge thing and they did it now let's have the unveiling of the sign they said no let's wait until black history month and do it on my mothers birthday and that will mean something to family and the american people. so my family came from whatever they were my sister has 12 children and another sister 9 boys. one sister had one brother and one brother had none but they were willing all here so, please give my family a round of applause for sharing this day and moment (clapping) you want them to stand up. why do i have to also give orders. only about half of them stand up (laughter) they came in as early as saturday and they've been here all the days moving around renewi renewing friendships because they've traveled with me and i share this moment with them on this occasion of bridge naming. i also share it with a whole host of number one family members. i have treasured my friendships with a collection of people from around the country politically

mr. mcnulty? >> i think secretary huffman's comments i think senator manchin has crafted a good common sense of roach to solve these problems. >> mr. chairman i want to reinforce a couple of things that have been said related to to -- whenever there's a spill of a reported quantity established there are three touch-points. immediate call to response entered i'm planning commission committee first responders and the state emergency response commission. i think it would be reasonable to expect one more call to a local water facility downstream. i think one of the benefits to in making bulk chemical storage facilities understand the risks and may also be having them understand the closest water intake structure is so if they are aware of that under the requirement that local water provider downstream be notified i think that can go a long way. >> thank you. senator boozman. >> thank you mr. chairman and i really don't have anything else. i was going to follow up the way that you did and i was curious about existing regulations and loopholes but i think you all covered that. we have protections in place

huffman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. state of west virginia and -- i'm sorry. thank you. the state of west virginia and its department of environmental protection appreciate and welcome the opportunity to address this committee. i'm hopeful that by sharing west virginia's experience from the perspective of an environmental regulator and not a public health official, i can provide insight to you and other states as we seek to provide a more comprehensive regulation. so as to better protect human health in the environment and minimize the risk associated with the industrial activity. on january 9, 2014, they received a complaint concerning an odor around the tank farm. at 12:05 p.m. freedom industry employee reported the spill to depp's emergency response spill hotline and stated they discovered a whole in one of the tank containing four mchm. they set down the site and instructed them to take all necessary measures to contain, recover, and remediate the spill. the incident highlights an issue that exists not only just in west virginia but all over the country. all states h