Republican lawmakers from Washington and Oregon have expressed their frustration over conversations focused on a proposal to breach the four lower Snake River dams. Washington’s Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse as well as Cliff Bentz issued a joint statement Wednesday after learning that the office of Idaho Representative Mike Simpson has been communicating with the office of Oregon Governor Kate Brown regarding the proposal.

Earlier this year, Simpson unveiled a $34 billion plan that would remove the four dams in an effort to improve salmon returns to Idaho.

Here is the statement issued by McMorris Rodgers, Newhouse and Bentz:

For months, Rep. Simpson has been speaking with us about his sweeping dam-breaching proposal, touting his transparency and open process while telling us it was simply a ‘legislative concept’ for the Northwest delegation to consider.

What he didn’t tell us was that he has been coordinating for months with Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s staff behind-the-scenes to shepherd his proposal through Congress with little to no support from Pacific Northwest representatives – Republican or Democrat.

In light of the recent release of hundreds of pages of communications between Rep. Simpson’s and Governor Brown’s offices – with dozens of references to keeping the discussions under wraps and out of the public eye – it’s clear this proposal is not just a starting point, but rather a radical and fully-baked plan he is actively seeking to put into law.

On top of that, we have to ask, why is he building his plan around the Governor of Oregon’s perspective – not his own state’s? And why do so behind closed doors? Not only does this have harmful impacts on our regional dialogue, but it also raises questions about the viability of the ‘Four Governors’ agreement signed last year which was purportedly intended to formalize a collaborative platform to work together to address these important issues in the Northwest.

Rep. Simpson has said that he would only move forward with his proposal if he gained support from his colleagues. Meanwhile, he admits his plan may not even help achieve our shared goal of bolstering native salmon populations.

We already know breaching the dams directly threatens our region’s way of life, energy reliability and affordability, and would dramatically increase carbon emissions. This new information proves that our constituents are being left out of what should be an open and transparent process.

Click Here to read the communication between Simpson's office and Brown's office.

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