Retiring Senator Boxer stages filibuster to block passage of water bill amendments

boxer-bio-shot-courtesy-ofIn a defiant final act of her long career, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer mounted a filibuster on the Senate floor Friday morning attempting to block passage of water bill amendments she says would harm salmon and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to deliver more water to farmers. Boxer, the California Democrat, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, spent about 90 minutes denouncing the bill. “I ask a no vote on a bill that would undo the entire salmon fishery on the West Coast. Don’t drop this in at the last minute,” Boxer said about amendments that were added at the last minute to an $11 billion water infrastructure bill with projects across the nation. Several environmental and fishermen’s groups back Boxer’s fight against the 11th-hour amendments, which open the door to deliver more Delta water to San Joaquin Valley farmers and Southern California at the expense of Delta fish and water quality. Video, read the rest here 11:16

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