Newhouse, McMorris Rodgers work to protect Lower Snake River dams

U.S. Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) on Jan. 22 introduced legislation that would guard against public funds being used to advocate for breaching dams in the Columbia-Snake River system, which transports nearly 30 percent of U.S. grain and oilseed exports.

“This administration, since its campaign, claims to advocate for green energy solutions, yet disregards that notion when told to by manipulative environmental activists who do not understand how critical the dams are to the Pacific Northwest and a clean energy future,” Rep. Newhouse said.

The congressman sponsored the Defending Against Manipulative Negotiators (DAMN) Act, H.R. 7066, alongside four Republican original cosponsors, including Rep. McMorris Rodgers. 

If enacted, H.R. 7066 would prohibit the use of federal funds from being used in breaching or altering the Lower Snake River dams and to prohibit the implementation of the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative, according to the text of the bill.

“The Defending Against Manipulative Negotiators Act is the first of many pieces of legislation coming that combats this administration’s radical, unfair, and unsubstantiated effort to destroy our dams and the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands of people who rely on them,” said Rep. Newhouse. 

The Biden administration in December 2023 announced a 10-year stay in the Columbia River System Operations mediation, as well as over $1 billion in funding for wild fish restoration in the Columbia River Basin.

Specifically, the White House said the administration reached an agreement to work in partnership with tribes and states from the Pacific Northwest to restore wild salmon populations, expand tribally sponsored clean energy production, and provide stability for communities that depend on the Columbia River System for agriculture, energy, recreation, and transportation.

However, Rep. Newhouse and Rep. McMorris Rodgers say that throughout the mediation process, key stakeholders and community members directly impacted by the litigation were left out of negotiations.

“The deal President Biden brokered with radical environmentalists behind closed doors will forever change the way our river system operates. It will devastate communities in eastern Washington and across the Pacific Northwest, and it makes commitments on behalf of Congress without engaging with us,” Rep. McMorris Rodgers said. “The administration understands only Congress has the authority to breach our dams. This legislation is how we use that power to make sure that never happens while protecting our region’s way of life from the consequences of this deeply misguided plan.”

H.R. 7066 is supported by the Tri-City Development Council, the Public Power Council, Inland Power, the Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, Northwest River Partners, the National Association of Wheat Growers, the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, the Washington State Potato Commission, the Washington State Dairy Federation, and the Columbia Basin Development League.