House Panel To Examine Cheney's Role In Fish Die-Off

A committee in the US House will hear testimony Tuesday on Vice President Dick Cheney's role in the shaping of federal policies in Oregon's Klamath Basin.

In June, the Washington Post reported that the Vice President personally intervened in 2002 to reverse federal policy that would have left drought-stricken farmers without irrigation water.

In January that year, President Bush spoke in Portland after discussing the Klamath with Republican Congressman Greg Walden and Senator Gordon Smith.

George W Bush: "And I told these two good men that we'll do everything we can to make sure water is available for people who farm." (Applause)

Environmentalists say the political pressure to divert water from the Klamath River led to a massive fish die off there in 2002.

Attorney Kristen Boyles, with the group Earth Justice, argues the decision was based more on politics than science.

Kristen Boyles: "The science was pointing in one way to say there should be more water in the Klamath. 'This is what the fish need.' And all of a sudden, this decision changed. And until now, we didn't know what happened."

The House Natural Resources Committee will question administration officials. But Cheney is not expected to be there.