Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor highlighting the latest impact on the people of Kentucky by the Obama Administration’s radical environmental agenda:

“Mr. President, over the past several years I have often come to the floor of this United States Senate to draw attention to the Obama Administration’s radical environmental agenda, and the deeply harmful effects it is having on the people of Kentucky. The Environmental Protection Agency’s War on Coal is the most obvious and tragic example.

“Today, I would like to highlight this Administration’s environmental agenda at perhaps its most absurd. And at the heart of our story is a two-and-a-half-inch minnow—let me repeat, a two-and-a-half-inch minnow—called the duskytail darter.

“Last week, the Obama Administration sided with this minnow over the economic well-being of the thousands of people in southeastern Kentucky who live near and depend on Lake Cumberland as a major driver of commerce, tourism, and recreation.

“The Obama Administration did this by determining that the presence of the darter in the lake’s tributaries meant that the raising of the lake’s water level must be further delayed.

“Lake Cumberland is a signature tourist destination in my State, and one of the economic pillars of McCreary, Clinton, Laurel, Russell, Pulaski and Wayne counties. The water level of the lake was lowered in January 2007, due to problems with the dam which feeds the lake.

“The past seven years of reduced water levels have not only hurt small businesses that rely on tourism, but have also strained local governments, as local towns have had to lower their water intake.

“Marinas have had to spend valuable dollars on boat ramp upgrades and dock relocations; dollars that could have been spent on growing businesses, hiring new workers and enhancing local commerce.

“In addition, the drawdown of water has deterred tourism, as a misperception has been created among potential visitors that the lake is no longer suitable for boating, fishing and water sports.

“Every year, Lake Cumberland brings to the local community $200 million in economic activity and employs on average 6,000 people. Understandably, those in the local community have been anxious to see the water levels returned to normal.

“2014 was supposed to be a great year for Lake Cumberland, as Kentuckians would mark the end of seven years’ worth of repairs to the dam, and therefore reduced water levels and visitors. Now, suddenly the Obama Administration has announced the water level cannot be raised because it could, potentially, have a harmful effect on this minnow, the duskytail darter, which is on the endangered species list.

“The absurdity of the Obama Administration’s posture on this issue is manifest. First, the Administration is protecting a fish from water. Let me repeat that: the radical environmentalists in the Obama Administration don’t want this fish to be exposed to too much water. What’s next? Protecting birds from too much sky?

“Second, the Administration took this action because raising the water could—not would, could—potentially have an adverse effect on this poor little minnow. Of course, anything in the universe could have an effect on the minnow.

“To the people of southeastern Kentucky, the President’s ‘Year of Action’ is apparently beneficial only if you happen to have gills.

“Mr. President, the story of the darter would be humorous if it weren’t so harmful to the economic well-being of thousands of southeastern Kentuckians. This misguided policy will have deeply harmful consequences for this region of Kentucky.

“Carolyn Mounce, who is responsible for promoting tourism at Lake Cumberland at the Somerset/Pulaski County Convention & Visitors Bureau, put it best when she said: ‘[This is] Bureaucracy run amok!’

“Carolyn just returned from attending tourist and travel shows in Cincinnati and Louisville two weeks ago. She says, ‘The shows were crowded…people wanted to talk about Lake Cumberland. They were excited about the lake returning to normal operation. And now this.’

“J.D. Hamilton, who operates Lee’s Ford Resort Marina on Lake Cumberland in Nancy, Kentucky, was also disappointed to learn of this announcement. Well, disappointed is an understatement, as his business has been stifled by the lowering of the water in recent years.

“In response to the announcement, he said, ‘The Corps is keeping its word to the fish but not on the economy.’

“Yesterday, my friend and colleague Senator Rand Paul and I, along with our colleagues in the House, Congressman Rogers and Congressman Whitfield, wrote the Administration calling for an end to this intolerable further delay.

“I hope the Obama Administration will take heed and concern itself more with the endangered jobs and endangered livelihoods of actual Kentuckians and Americans than with the possible endangerment of this water-averse minnow.”