[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 152 (Friday, November 30, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H6576-H6577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RELIEF FOR THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 5, 2011, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr.
Whitfield) for 30 minutes.
Mr. WHITFIELD. We all recognize that in this country we recently had
a national election. We have a lot of new Members of the House of
Representatives. We have new United States Senators. President Obama
and Vice President Biden are back in their offices. We've had new
officeholders elected in many State and local communities as well. And
while we have a lot of change in the elected offices, we all know that
a big part of government relates to what we would refer to as the
executive branch. And that means various departments of government and
agencies within those departments of government. And those people work
very hard. They're committed to the American people. They're not
elected. And many times we do not even know who they are.
Now today, I want to raise an issue that is vitally important to all
of the American people because on or about December 10 the levels of
water on the Mississippi River are going to be so shallow between St.
Louis, Missouri, and Cairo, Illinois, and then, on top of that, because
of rock pinnacles near Grand Tower and Thebes, Illinois, that river
traffic may come to a halt on the Mississippi River. And that means
there's going to be millions of tons of commodities that are not going
to be able to be transported north and south on that river. Of course,
that affects not only the recipients of those commodities and the
shippers of those commodities but indirectly people who mine, make,
manufacture, supply those commodities. And so this potentially can have
a dramatic impact in a negative way on the economy of our country at a
time when we are trying to stimulate the economy, create more jobs, and
make sure that we do not throw ourselves back into a recession.
In early November, and even toward the end of October, over 15 United
States Senators, around 65 Members of the House of Representatives, and
5 or 6 Governors of various States wrote letters to President Barack
Obama; Major Phillip May, Regional Administrator for Region IV of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency; Mr. George ``Tony'' Robinson,
Region VI, Federal Emergency Management Agency; the Honorable Jo-Ellen
Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army for the Corps of Engineers; Mr.
William Craig Fugate, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency; Mr. Andrew Velasquez, Regional Administrator, Region V of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency; and Ms. Beth Freeman, Regional
Administrator, Region VII of the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
in which we point out this impending problem.
Now I'm not the only one talking about this. Every Member of Congress
along that corridor is receiving phone calls, letters, and emails. We
have all sorts of groups out there very much worried about this problem
needing to be solved. And it can be solved. But it appears that the
Corps of Engineers has an annual operating plan. This annual operating
plan determines how much water they're able to release from the
Missouri River into the Mississippi River in the wintertime. And I
understand that they have to have a plan. But most people in America
know that when you have exceptional circumstances, you have some
emergency, you have some unintended consequence, that you have to make
alternative plans.
And so those Senators that I talked about, those Members of the House
that I have talked about, the Governors that I have talked about, the
15 or 20 associations that I have talked about all have gone to the
Corps of Engineers and asked them to change their annual plan and
release some water from the upper Missouri to the Mississippi River so
that we do not have to stop barge traffic on the Mississippi River. And
so far, we've heard no response.
I know that there are groups that are opposed to this. There are some
environmental groups that are opposed to this--and for valid reasons.
And we're not asking this to be done permanently. But this is an
emergency that will have dire consequences on the economy of this
country, and we cannot stand for even a brief period of time to stop
commerce on the Mississippi River.
Of course, there's another issue that I mentioned earlier, and that
is that we have these rock pinnacles that are contributing to the
problem of this shallow waterbed between Grand Tower and Thebes,
Illinois. And the Corps has indicated that they're going to take some
action to remove those pinnacles. And that's vitally necessary as well.
So I'm here today partly out of pure frustration. Although some
people think that individual Members of Congress have a lot of power
and authority--and sometimes we think that--but the truth of the matter
is these decisions are being made by people at the Corps of Engineers,
maybe the Secretary of the Department of Transportation, and some of
these other agencies. They have the legal authority to take action
here. But so far, they're unwilling to do so.
I'm here today simply to raise this issue because I don't know what
else to do. We've written letters. We've called. These associations and
agencies of other governments, State and local, have written letters,
have called. We've done everything we can do. We've asked the President
to take action. We've asked the Corps of Engineers to take action. And
we understand that it's not anyone's personal fault.
{time} 1420
This is caused by a drought of unusual proportion. When you think
about traffic--all traffic on the Mississippi River in that region
between St. Louis and Cairo--coming to a halt, it's going to have a
dramatic, negative impact on everyone in our country.
So I simply am here today to focus attention on the issue and to once
again ask the President, the Assistant Secretary of Defense, and the
Corps of Engineers to take some action to work with us to resolve this
problem.
With that, I yield back the balance of my time.
Congress of the United States,
Washington, DC, November 19, 2012.
Hon. Jo-Ellen Darcy,
Assistant Secretary of the Army, Civil Works,
Washington, DC.
Dear Assistant Secretary Darcy, It has come to our
attention that commerce along the Mississippi River may soon
be in jeopardy. According to industry groups, barge traffic
could be severely impaired or altogether grind to a halt
along the middle Mississippi River between St. Louis, MO and
Cairo, IL. This has the potential to occur as soon as
December 10th of this year.
The problem has arisen because of the drought and the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers' current plan to halt releases of
water from the Upper Missouri River reservoirs on
approximately November 22nd. We understand that the Army
Corps typically reduces and eventually shuts off water flows
during this time of the year in accordance with its Annual
Operating Plan (AOP) for the Missouri River, but doing so now
could result in such low water levels on the Mississippi
River that normal barge transportation would be impossible.
On November 13, flows from the Missouri river made up 61.1
percent of the Mississippi River, according to the U.S.
Geological Service gage.
Ensuring that the Mississippi River is open to traffic is
vital to the manufacturing and agriculture communities, and
ultimately American jobs. The river system is the global
gateway for American products and commodities, and its
continued traffic flow is of the utmost importance.
We ask that the Corps speed up the process of removal of
rock pinnacles at Grand Tower, IL and Thebes, IL. Removal of
rock in this area is essential for normal barge traffic to
continue within low water levels. We also ask that water
flows be maintained from the Missouri River until the rock
removal is finished.
[[Page H6577]]
An industry review of the statute, regulations and
legislative and operating history demonstrates that Congress
specifically intended the Missouri River reservoir system be
operated to benefit downstream areas on the Mississippi River
as well as the Missouri. Corps management of the Missouri
reservoirs has deviated from the AOP during exceptional
circumstances. The navigation community recognizes the
legitimate needs of the other users of Missouri River waters,
and believes this problem can be solved without significant
impact on other water claimants.
We trust that you recognize the importance of this issue to
U.S. jobs and industries, and are hopeful that you will work
with all parties involved in these impacted areas. Thank you
for your consideration of our request.
Respectfully,
Rep. Aaron Schock (IL-18); Rep. Ed Whitfield (KY-1), Rep.
Jeff Landry (LA-3); Rep. Spencer Bachus (AL-6); Rep.
Erik Paulsen (MN-3); Rep. Dave Loebsack (IA-2); Rep.
Elijah Cummings (MD-7); Rep. Wm Lacy Clay (MO-1); Rep.
Gene Green (TX-29); Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-9); Rep. Adam
Kinzinger (IL-11); Rep. Sam Graves (MO-6); Rep. Peter
Roskam (IL-6); Rep. Glenn `GT' Thompson (PA-5); Rep.
Gregg Harper (MS-3); Rep. Bobby Schilling (IL-17); Rep.
Leonard Boswell (IA-3); Rep. Cedric Richmond (LA-2);
Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (MS-2); Rep. Emanuel Cleaver,
IL (MO-5); Rep. Terri A. Sewell (AL-7); Rep. Jerry
Costello (IL-12); Rep. Mo Brooks (AL-5); Rep. John
Shimkus (IL-19); Rep. Tim Murphy (PA-18); Rep. Timothy
V. Johnson (IL-15); Rep. Steve Scalise (LA-1); Rep. Tim
Griffin (AR-2); Rep. Danny K. Davis (IL-7); Rep. Bruce
Braley (IA-1); Rep. Dan Lipinski (IL-3); Rep. Jim
Cooper (TN-5); Rep. Mark Critz (PA-12); Rep. Bobby L.
Rush (IL-1); Rep. Tim Walberg (MI-7); Rep. Robert J.
Dold (IL-10); Rep. Rodney Alexander (LA-5); Rep. Rick
Crawford (AR-1); Rep. Steven M. Palazzo (MS-4); Rep.
Billy Long (MO-7); Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9); Rep.
Jo Ann Emerson (MO-8); Rep. Randy Hultgren (IL-14);
Rep. Tom Latham (IA-4); Rep. Alan Nunnelee (MS-1); Rep.
Todd Akin (MO-2); Rep. Mike Ross (AR-4); Rep. Charles
W. Boustany, Jr., MD (LA-7); Rep. Vicky Hartzler (MO-
4); Rep. Brett Guthrie (KY-2); Rep. Steve Stivers (OH-
15); Rep. Marsha Blackburn (TN-7); Rep. Bill Cassidy,
MD (LA-6); Rep. Stephen Fincher (TN-8); Rep. Collin
Peterson (MN-7); Rep. Dan Burton (IN-5); Rep. John
Kline (MN-2); Rep. Don Manzullo (IL-16); Rep. Judy
Biggert (IL-13); Rep. Diane Black (TN-6); Rep. Jason
Altmire (PA-4); Rep. Russ Carnahan (MO-3).-
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