[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 100 (Thursday, July 21, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1569]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT, FISCAL YEARS 2006 AND 2007

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                               speech of

                         HON. JAMES L. OBERSTAR

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 20, 2005

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2601) to 
     authorize appropriations for the Department of State for 
     fiscal years 2006 and 2007, and for other purposes:

  Mr. OBERSTAR. Mr. Chairman, I take this opportunity to state my 
opposition to the amendment offered by Mr. Rogers of Michigan.
  The language of the amendment is based upon a misinterpretation of 
the precedents concerning the management and control of the Great 
Lakes, and section 1109 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, 
in particular.
  The Great Lakes are not possessed by the 8 states that border them. 
The United States maintains sovereign power over the Great Lakes under 
its authority to regulate commerce and to control the navigable waters 
within its jurisdiction. As the Supreme Court specifically recognized, 
the United States' ultimate interest in the Great Lakes is greater than 
those of any state.
  It is the United States, not the states, that manages the Great 
Lakes. For example, the Great Lakes' role as a national transportation 
corridor is vital to the national economy. The Great Lakes navigation 
system generates more than 150,000 jobs for the U.S. economy, $4.3 
billion in personal income, and $3.4 billion in transportation-related 
business revenue.
  The United States has sovereign power over the Great Lakes and 
frequently exercises this power through control of water pollution, 
reducing the introduction of invasive species, protecting endangered 
species, and exercising water management functions generally.
  Mr. Rogers's amendment misinterprets section 1109 of the Water 
Resources Development Act to mean that Congress ceded authority over 
the Great Lakes to the Governors of the Great Lakes States. Congress 
did not.
  The legislative history of section 1109 of the Water Resources 
Development Act of 1986 clearly indicates that Congress was acting to 
protect the limited quantity of water available from the Great Lakes 
system for use by the Great Lakes States and to prohibit any diversion 
unless that diversion was approved by the Governors of all the Great 
Lakes States. This ``veto'' authority granted to the Governors of the 8 
Great Lakes States was the implementation mechanism for the Federal 
policy, not a relinquishment of authority. Therefore, it is 
inconsistent with law and precedent to indicate that Congress 
recognizes that management authority over the Great Lakes should be 
vested with the Governors of the 8 Great Lakes States, and the Premiers 
of the Canadian provinces.
  For these reasons, I state my strong belief that the amendment 
erroneously characterizes Congressional policy and law.

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