In a lengthy editorial posted at Montana Headlines last week, would-be governor Roy Brown tries to take Gov. Schweitzer to task for his supposed support of the Clean Water Restoration Act. However, Brown’s accusations and words directly from Gov. Schweitzer’s mouth when he testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on H.R. 2421 last summer. Let’s compare Brown’s accusations with Gov. Schweitzer’s own words shall we?
Brown: “I’ve been shocked and discouraged by Governor Brian Schweitzer’s recent support of a bill that gives bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. all of the power to manage Montana’s water.”
Gov. Schweitzer: “I would just caution that in writing this legislation, make sure that you give adequate authority to local folks on the ground to interpret these rules; for example, the conservation districts…that are locally elected, that have the charge of protection the water in each of these conservation districts in nearly every agricultural county in America.”
Brown: “But what the Governor won’t mention is that this legislation puts additional risks and costs on our agricultural producers and landowners.”
Gov. Schweitzer: “We don’t want to put the federal government in the position of managing our waterways all the way to the Rocky Mountains…We want you to help us protect the water supply for the rest of the County, but we don’t want to put our farmers out of business, our loggers out of business, our cattlemen out of business.”
Needless to say, I could go on and on with quotes from Gov. Schweitzer that prove Roy Brown’s dishonesty, but it’s unnecessary. I just hope that Montana newspapers and other outlets don’t pick up Brown’s droppings.
1 response so far ↓
1 Joel // May 22, 2008 at 5:24 pm
After reading the governor’s actual comments on the written transcript submitted to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on July 17, 2007, I see none of the above comments from the governor. He does in fact encourage the bill because it “bolsters Congress’ authority to protect…using all of its legislative authorities under the US Constitution.” I don’t remember ever reading that the federal government should tell the cattle ranchers, farmers, and others dependent on Montana’s waterways how to use their water. Roy Brown pointed out that with this bill, much of the water in Montana is no long in Montana’s hands; but the water is under the control of the people in Washington. There is one group that knows what is best for the state’s water: Montana. Brown understands this. He is totally correct on pointing out the burdens this would put on agriculture and landowners, not to mention homebuilders and many other facets of Montana’s economy. Many of these groups would see even more forms to fill out and hoops to jump through. This would put a great economic and regulatory strain on major parts of the state’s economy; adding unneeded stress for no gain. Expanding the Clean Water Act to “Waters of the United States” is a gross overextension of the Federal government’s power.
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