[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 106 (Friday, July 15, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1335-E1336]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2012

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, July 8, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2354) making 
     appropriations for energy and water development and related 
     agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2012, and 
     for other purposes:

  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chair, I rise in strident opposition to H.R. 2354, 
the Energy and Water Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2012. This 
unfortunate bill is just another in a long line of Republican attempts 
to sabotage policies put in place to protect the health and safety of 
Americans, as well as to improve the environment while at the same time 
fostering economic recovery. I categorically reject the Republicans' 
cynical and shortsighted approach to governing and urge my colleagues 
to follow suit by opposing this bill.
  I am not without justification in my criticism of H.R. 2354. To be 
clear, it contains a rider to block the Environmental Protection 
Agency's (EPA) ability to clarify the scope of the Clean Water Act, 
landmark legislation that I helped write and pass into law. The bill 
also blocks EPA's authority to oversee mountaintop removal coal mining, 
effectively allowing mountains to be carved away at corporate leisure. 
Finally, the bill would remove EPA's authority to make storm water 
programs more effective, which strikes me as curious given my 
Republicans' bent on making government leaner, meaner, and more 
effective. On a broader note, H.R. 2354 constitutes an attack on the 
integrity of the Clean Water Act, which has helped restore the 
chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters. 
Just as this bill would allow coal companies to carve away mountains, 
so too would it carve away EPA's precious and necessary authorities 
under the Clean Water Act.
  H.R. 2354's assault on Americans and their environment extends beyond 
allowing the desecration of the beautiful waters they so treasure. The 
bill also curtails programs meant to advance economic recovery in a 
manner more sustainable for the environment. While I commend my 
colleagues on the House Appropriations Energy and Water Subcommittee 
for dedicating funding to repair the damage caused by the recent storms 
and floods, I do not agree with taking funding from critical 
infrastructure projects that offer enormous economic impacts in a 
myriad of communities across this country. If my colleagues recognize 
the storms and floods as emergency events, then they should have had 
the fortitude to allocate emergency funding to these

[[Page E1336]]

repairs outside of the normal appropriations process.
  By nature high-speed rail funding are immediate economic generators. 
Under H.R. 2354, the 15th District is slated to lose more than $495 
million in funding awarded to four highspeed rail projects in our 
district. The projects that would be derailed are the development of 
new train stations in Ann Arbor and Dearborn, the joint Midwest 
Regional Rail passenger rail equipment purchase, and the rehabilitation 
and improvement of track between Kalamazoo and Dearborn. This 
rescission will result in the loss of as many as 13,008 jobs.
  And as if cutting funds for mass transit were not enough, H.R. 2354 
also seeks to eviscerate the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing 
loan program, which helps automakers and suppliers produce more fuel 
efficient vehicles and decrease U.S. dependence on foreign oil. This is 
the height of folly and quite frankly indefensible.
  Mr. Chair, for all of these reasons and more, I oppose H.R. 2354 and 
urge my colleagues to do so as well. Their children and grandchildren 
will thank them if they do.

                          ____________________