WASHINGTON — When Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) failed this week in a last-ditch effort to reshape federal water policy in California before Congress recesses, he gave one of his many adversaries an opportunity to settle a personal score and stirred old resentments among others.
Rep. Carroll Hubbard Jr. (D-Ky.) stood up on the House floor Tuesday night and prevented Miller, the chairman of the Interior Committee, from getting the unanimous consent he needed to proceed with a companion measure--emergency drought relief legislation.
The unusual maneuver by Hubbard, who has been seething since Miller loudly cursed him last summer in front of local Kentucky officials, marked the first time in his 17 years as a lawmaker that he had stymied such a routine request.
"The old adage of what goes around comes around happened (Tuesday night). . . ," Hubbard said in an interview. "Believe me, I am not the only one in the House who dislikes Congressman Miller and that includes a large number of California members. Many Democrats and Republicans will tell you they try to stay clear of him because he is so obnoxious."
Miller said he had anticipated that his motives would be widely assailed after he attempted to overturn the federal government's practice of automatically renewing 40-year contracts with irrigators who use the massive Central Valley project. While making it clear in an interview that he could care less what others think of him, Miller dismissed Hubbard's act of revenge as meaningless.
"This is not real," Miller said. "I've had Salvadoran death squads and assassins sent to the United States because they were mad (over his opposition to U.S. aid to Central America). That is real." (In 1983, State Department officials warned Miller that they could not guarantee his safety if he traveled to Central America.)
After attaching the irrigation contract issue to the drought bill, Miller needed a special measure to get the drought measure reconsidered separately. That is when Hubbard objected on grounds that Miller was trying to get the same legislation approved on consecutive days.
On Wednesday, Miller was able to bypass Hubbard's objection to the appointment of a conference committee to consider drought relief by getting a special resolution approved in his committee and then in the House. As a result, House and Senate negotiators are expected to take up the drought bill soon. The measure would arm federal authorities with new power to move water in California during a crisis.
