{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-slams-final-package-actions-and-commitments-columbia-river", "Newhouse Slams Final Package of Actions and Commitments in the Columbia River System Operations Mediation", "2023-12-15", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "House", "WA", "Dan Newhouse", "N000189", "newhouse.house.gov", "newhouse", "https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA-04) released the following statement upon the early release of the final package of actions and commitments in the Columbia River System Operations (CRSO) mediation.\n\n\u201cThis final package, which would make our region\u2019s dams effectively defunct, confirms what we\u2019ve all known for years. The Biden Administration is catering to the wishes of extreme environmental activists that do not understand both the importance of the dams to our region, and the consequences of their proposed actions,\u201d said Rep. Dan Newhouse.\n\nNewhouse continues, \u201cFor the duration of this process, key stakeholders\u2019 positions have been widely ignored in favor of secret, closed-door meetings. The Biden Administration has consistently ignored the science and doubled down on the fraudulent claim that salmon and the dams cannot coexist\u2014a fact that his been disproven multiple times, most recently in the 2020 Columbia River System Operations Environmental Impact Statement. This package is a slap in the face to the residents of Central Washington under the guise of protecting salmon and I will not stand for it. I have said it before, and I will say it again\u2014Congress alone has the authority to breach the Lower Snake River Dams, and as long as I am your representative, I will fight to ensure our dams remain in place.\u201d\n\nYou can read the package of commitments, here.\n\nBackground:\n\nThe Biden Administration announced a 10-year stay in the Columbia River System Operations (CRSO) mediation, alongside over $1 billion in funding for wild fish restoration in the Columbia River Basin.\n\nThroughout the mediation process, key stakeholders and community members directly impacted by the litigation have been left in the dark as negotiations take place behind closed doors.\n\nThe Biden Administration and dam-breaching advocates are intent on achieving a \u201cde facto\u201d breach of the Four Lower Snake River Dams, by opening the gates to reduce the water below the minimum operating levels for hydroelectric generation.\n\nGiven that \u201cbreaching the dams\u201d is mentioned 68 times total in the package, it is abundantly clear what the goal of this administration is.\n\nThis administration should not be making agreements which circumvent congressional authority to breach the dams by operationally breaching them with the agreement.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:14:16Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-slams-final-package-actions-and-commitments-columbia-river"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.058638095855713, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}