71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
 
SA to SM 2
 
LC 4265/SM 2-1
 
                      SENATE AMENDMENTS TO
                        SENATE MEMORIAL 2
 
             By COMMITTEE ON RULES AND REDISTRICTING
 
                              May 2
 
  Delete lines 2 through 7 of the printed memorial and insert:
  ' To the President of the United States, the Senate and the
House of Representatives of the United States of America, in
Congress assembled, and the United States Secretary of
Agriculture:
  ' We, your memorialists, the Senate of the State of Oregon, in
legislative session assembled, respectfully represent as follows:
  ' Whereas the State of Oregon has officially established that
Klamath County, Oregon, is facing a drought emergency due to a
lack of rainfall and snowpack and has asked the United States
Department of Agriculture to issue a declaration of a natural
resources disaster in Klamath County; and
  ' Whereas 95 percent of harvested cropland in Klamath County
relies on irrigation, and 224,500 acres of cropland are at risk
of becoming unproductive if farmers cannot apply water during the
2001 growing season; and
  ' Whereas the drought has prevented farmers from planting crops
for this growing season, sacrificing more than $65 million in
farm income and risking more than $45 million in secondary income
in local communities; and
  ' Whereas the waterflows from the Klamath Project that sustain
agriculture are also an irreplaceable source of water for the
surrounding wildlife refuge; and
  ' Whereas farmers in the Klamath Basin face not only a natural
disaster due to the drought, but also restrictions on water use
imposed by the federal Endangered Species Act; and
  ' Whereas the federal Bureau of Reclamation's decision to
refuse to deliver waterflows to farmers will cause irreversible
damage to the economy of Klamath County, the environment of the
Klamath Basin and the thousands of farm families and communities
in the Klamath Basin; and
  ' Whereas the members of the Senate of the Seventy-first
Legislative Assembly wish to express their support for the
families and communities of the Klamath Basin during this crucial
time, and to thank those citizens for their stewardship of their
local economies and environment; now, therefore,'.
  Delete lines 9 through 12 and insert:
  ' (1) The United States Government is respectfully requested to
provide aid and support to family farmers in the Klamath Basin,
including working with the affected communities to provide any
available assistance to address the current water crisis.
  ' (2) A copy of this memorial shall be sent to the President of
the United States, to each member of the Oregon Congressional
Delegation and to the United States Secretary of Agriculture.'.
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