Watch the full video of her speech here.

The speech was part of an effort to strip a surprise ‘midnight rider’ amendment from the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (Water Resources Development Act, S. 612). The amendment would undermine the Endangered Species Act by taking water from critical salmon habitats and directing it to California’s Central Valley.  The legislation would also allow states to erect new dams without congressional consent.

Sen. Cantwell: “If we’re going to decide to kill fish tonight for California, for delta almond growers, are you gonna show up tomorrow and say ‘let’s kill Northwest salmon’ because someone else in California wants our water? I can tell you the answer to that is hell no! We are not going to let you attack Northwest salmon for California water.”