This week, I was pleased to welcome my Congressional colleagues from the House Committee on Natural Resources to Central Washington for a field hearing concerning the critical role the Snake River Dams have to our communities and the Pacific Northwest.
The facts presented by our expert witnesses at the field hearing in Richland made it abundantly clear that the four Lower Snake River Dams provide the foundation for energy generation, navigation, irrigation, agriculture, recreation, and more.
It's disheartening to witness the misguided efforts of the Biden Administration and the extreme environmentalists who espouse baseless claims to push their political agenda in their efforts to breach the dams. All members of the House Committee on Natural Resources—Democrats and Republicans—were invited to come to Central Washington to see the dams for themselves and be a part of the field hearing, but those advocating to breach the dams wouldn't even show up to hear from the experts who study them every day or see the dams for themselves.
The truth that the extreme environmentalists don't want to talk about is that salmon and dams DO coexist. At our hearing, we learned that salmon returns have been increasing, with the dams in place, serving as a testament to the diligent work of our fish biologists, local conservation partners, tribal neighbors, and federal agencies. In fact, last year, salmon returns were the highest since 2016, and the number of Wild Chinook more than doubled compared to 2021.
This visit served as a key reminder that we must not be swayed by the emotional pleas of the ill-informed, but rather embrace the truth, grounded in science in sound policy. I'm glad my colleagues in the House came to help shed light on the fallacies of dam-breaching arguments. I will continue to work tirelessly to safeguard the future prosperity of the Pacific Northwest.
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