[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 21, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H2825-H2827]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          FREEDOM TO FISH ACT

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (S. 982) to prohibit the Corps of Engineers from taking certain 
actions to establish a restricted area prohibiting public access to 
waters downstream of a dam, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                                 S. 982

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Freedom to Fish Act''.

     SEC. 2. RESTRICTED AREAS AT CORPS OF ENGINEERS DAMS.

       (a) Definitions.--In this Act:
       (1) Restricted area.--The term ``restricted area'' means a 
     restricted area for hazardous waters at dams and other civil 
     works structures in the Cumberland River basin established in 
     accordance with chapter 10 of the regulation entitled 
     ``Project Operations: Navigation and Dredging Operations and 
     Maintenance Policies'', published by the Corps of Engineers 
     on November 29, 1996, and any related regulations or 
     guidance.
       (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers.
       (b) Existing Restricted Area.--If the Secretary has 
     established a restricted area or modified an existing 
     restricted area during the period beginning on August 1, 
     2012, and ending on the day before the date of enactment of 
     this Act, the Secretary shall--
       (1) cease implementing and enforcing the restricted area 
     until the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of 
     this Act; and
       (2) remove any permanent physical barriers constructed in 
     connection with the restricted area.
       (c) Establishing New Restricted Area.--If, on or after the 
     date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary establishes any 
     restricted area, the Secretary shall--
       (1) ensure that any restrictions are based on operational 
     conditions that create hazardous waters;
       (2) publish a draft describing the restricted area and seek 
     and consider public comment on that draft prior to 
     establishing the restricted area;
       (3) not implement or enforce the restricted area until the 
     date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act; 
     and
       (4) not take any action to establish a permanent physical 
     barrier in connection with the restricted area.
       (d) Exclusions.--For purposes of this section, the 
     installation and maintenance of measures for alerting the 
     public of hazardous water conditions and restricted areas, 
     including sirens, strobe lights, and signage, shall not be 
     considered to be a permanent physical barrier.
       (e) Enforcement.--
       (1) In general.--Enforcement of a restricted area shall be 
     the sole responsibility of the State in which the restricted 
     area is located.
       (2) Existing authorities.--The Secretary shall not assess 
     any penalty for entrance into a restricted area under section 
     4 of the Act entitled ``An Act authorizing the construction 
     of certain public works on rivers and harbors for flood 
     control, and for other purposes'', approved December 22, 1944 
     (16 U.S.C. 460d).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) and the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. 
Napolitano) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

                              {time}  1350


                             General Leave

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend and include 
extraneous materials on S. 982.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  S. 982, the Freedom to Fish Act, would prohibit the Corps of 
Engineers from restricting public access in the vicinity of the 10 dams 
on the Cumberland River in Kentucky and Tennessee. This bill, this 
legislation, was introduced in the Senate by the leader, Senator 
McConnell, and also by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, and our own in-
House version authored by our colleague, Ed Whitfield from Kentucky.
  The bill provides for a 2-year moratorium to give the public, the two 
States, and the Corps of Engineers more time to carefully review 
conditions at these facilities, and to deal with the immediate threat 
to fishing, tourism, and the economy.
  I applaud our leadership for bringing this legislation to the floor 
today. This is an excellent example of Congress exercising our 
constitutional authority to oversee Federal agencies. Far too often, 
the executive branch and the Federal bureaucracy operate without input 
and guidance from Congress. My colleagues on the floor of this House 
every day criticize rules, regulations, and actions by unelected 
bureaucrats that hurt our districts, our constituents, and our economy. 
Congress has the right, the constitutional duty, to oversee Federal 
agencies and provide them with clear guidance and direction.
  As chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, 
problems with the Army Corps of Engineers are frequently brought to my 
attention by my colleagues from both sides of the aisle, Republicans 
and Democrats. I am pleased to work whenever possible to address these 
issues with clear guidance from Congress.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  The pending measure was introduced in the Senate on May 16 of this 
year, 2013, and passed the very same day. While the bill is apparently 
a Senate-revised version of the legislation introduced in February of 
2013, no committee hearings or markups were held on either bill.
  Since 1996, the Army Corps of Engineers has been required to 
establish restricted areas for hazardous waters upstream and downstream 
of all Corps dams. As written, S. 982 would revise the current agency 
policy and would also prohibit the Army Corps of Engineers from 
establishing any restricted areas in hazardous waters at dams and other 
structures in the Cumberland River basin for a period of 2 years, and 
also require them to remove any physical barriers that already exist to 
prevent access to the hazardous areas. If after the 2-year moratorium, 
the Corps decided to implement new restricted areas around these dams 
and other structures, it would continue to be prohibited from erecting 
any physical barriers to prevent people from entering hazardous areas.
  Mr. Speaker, I have serious concerns over this legislation because it 
does pose risks for public safety and national security. Currently, the 
Corps restricts access to certain areas above and below the dams of the 
Cumberland River basin in order to keep people from being sucked into 
the spill waste or from having their boats swamped or sunk by unplanned 
releases from the hydropower units, which are very much un-timed. The 
reason they do this is very simple: to prevent people from drowning and 
to restrict access to Federal dams that would be targets for terrorism 
or destruction. Without full-time law enforcement patrols, areas above 
and below dams are not constantly monitored, and the Corps has not been 
able to alert and rescue people who get into trouble. They have to base 
it on people who are in boats nearby to help effect a rescue. Fourteen 
people drowned in the last few years, and there have been 20 near 
misses where there is no Corps staff to help.
  In fact, according to a report by WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee, 
there have been three fatalities in the hazardous waters immediately 
downstream of those dams on the Cumberland River. The waters are so 
hazardous at these locations that wearing a life jacket is ineffective. 
And I repeat: ineffective.
  To legislatively preclude a Federal agency from protecting public 
health and national security seems a very unwise course of action, and 
I have significant concerns about the precedent that would be set by 
this legislation.

[[Page H2826]]

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Whitfield), the author of the House version of this bill.

  Mr. WHITFIELD. Chairman Shuster, I want to thank you and Ranking 
Member Napolitano for agreeing to bring this important legislation to 
the floor. I will tell you, last September the Army Corps of Engineers 
made a decision that at the 10 dams located on the Cumberland River, 
they would put up a barrier of fishing near these dams in the 
tailwaters.
  Despite opposition from the Governors of Tennessee and Kentucky, the 
Fish and Wildlife Services of Kentucky and Tennessee, Senator 
Alexander, Senator Corker, Congressman Jim Cooper, Marsha Blackburn of 
Tennessee, Steve Fincher, myself, Rand Paul, Mitch McConnell and 
others--we wrote letters to the Corps. We had public meetings with the 
Corps. We sent petitions to the Corps. We had phone calls with the 
Corps, and asked them to delay the implementation, primarily because of 
the sequestration and the amount of money that it would take to put 
these barriers up, which would be almost $3 million.
  Despite our best efforts, and we had meetings at which 400 to 500 
people attended, they refused to delay the implementation. So I rise 
today to support this Senate bill because it delays the implementation 
for 2 years.
  I want to thank the gentlelady for bringing up the safety issue. All 
of us are very much concerned about the safety issue. But I would like 
to point out that in the 42 years of the history of these dams on the 
Cumberland River in Tennessee and Kentucky, there have been 881 
drownings in the collective lakes and waters not including the area 
immediately around the dam. There have only been 14 drownings--and any 
drowning is too many--but in 42 years around the dam where they are 
focused on, there have been 14 drownings. I might say that of those 14 
drownings, five of them occurred on the banks; two of them were of 
unknown causes; three were because people were not even wearing life 
jackets; three were because they were wearing the life jackets 
improperly; and only one drowning occurred in 42 years where the person 
was wearing the life jacket properly.
  So I would say to the Corps, the real safety issue relates to the 
collective waters not around the dams. Of course, we all are very much 
concerned about protecting the homeland, homeland security, and I will 
tell you in these very rural areas of Tennessee and Kentucky where 
these dams are located, many people are out there fishing.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. SHUSTER. I yield the gentleman an additional minute.
  Mr. WHITFIELD. I thank the gentleman.
  These are very rural areas. I will tell you that the Fish and 
Wildlife Service provides a great deal of protection and enforcement of 
broken laws in this area. Many of these people are quite familiar with 
each other, and I'm not going to be able to address the homeland 
security issue in detail, except to say that it is enforced. Many of 
the people who fish there through the fishing competitions and for the 
economic growth know each other.
  But on the safety issue, I would just say 14 drownings in 42 years 
around the dam itself, 881 in other areas, and so we're not asking that 
this be a permanent restriction. We are simply asking the Corps to work 
with the Governors, the Fish and Wildlife Services of both States, the 
Senate and House, and local county judges to address it in a more 
permanent way.
  So I would respectfully request that you approve the Senate bill, 
which would simply delay this for 2 years for additional study.

                              {time}  1400

  Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might 
consume to say it'd be nice to know why the Army Corps has not really 
been effective in getting back to the parties that have asked for 
information and working with them; and it would be very much 
interesting to know whether or not it's because of sequestration or 
budget or whatever, but we might delve into it later.
  I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee, Congressman 
Cooper.
  Mr. COOPER. I thank the gentlelady for yielding.
  This is a completely bipartisan measure, and I hope that we have an 
overwhelming vote in support of it.
  The Freedom to Fish Act is a very responsible piece of legislation 
put forward in the Senate by my colleague, Senator Lamar Alexander.
  In the hearing on the Senate side, Senator Feinstein pointed out to 
the Army Corps of Engineers' witness how reasonable Senator Alexander 
was trying to be, how reasonable this approach was. So I think we can 
say with some certainty that this is something that should be 
overwhelmingly supported by this House.
  For my colleagues, the Cumberland River is perhaps unknown to you. 
It's a beautiful river. Every elected official that I'm aware of in our 
area, Democrat and Republican, supports this legislation.
  Safety is an issue, but so is overreaching by our friends at the 
Corps. Occasionally they're a little bit tone deaf, especially if they 
get transferred in and out a little bit too quickly.
  This is an amazing little way to fish here, below the dams. Some of 
you not realizing, you think fish is this big or this big. Some of 
these fish are 30 and 40 pounds.
  This is a magnificent recreational resource that has been unfairly 
harmed by proposed Corps actions and by, really, an official who will 
be soon moving away from our area and living in another part of the 
country. He's a fine gentleman, but this is an opportunity for us to 
reclaim our local rights, our traditions, our freedom to fish.
  I would urge colleagues on both sides of the aisle to have a little 
common sense here. Support S. 982. It's a very reasonable approach to 
trying to solve this problem, solving this dispute with the Corps. 
Support S. 982.
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Tennessee (Mrs. Blackburn).
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. Speaker, I do rise today to support this 
legislation and to support the sportsmen from Tennessee and Kentucky. 
And as you can see, this is an issue where there is bipartisan 
agreement.
  One of my constituents said it so well. They're so frustrated with 
this situation, and we've heard from so many of them on it. And they 
said, you know, you can turn on the TV any night and you see government 
overreach, whether it's the IRS admitting that they have targeted 
conservative groups or DOJ wiretapping reporters. And then you get home 
to Tennessee and, at the local level, what you see is the Corps of 
Engineers coming in and saying, well, by the way, we're going to change 
something, and you're not going to be able to fish.
  Fishing in Tennessee is a tradition. It is a favorite pastime. 
Sportsmen have been fishing along this beautiful Cumberland River for 
years. As Mr. Cooper said, it is a beautiful place to be. And since the 
dams were built, I have to tell you, there are now generations of 
Tennesseeans, you will see families out together fishing. We have about 
900,000 registered anglers in our State, and I have to tell you, I 
think our office has heard from almost every one of them on this issue. 
They have been very persistent.
  One thing I would want my colleagues to know is that our sportsmen in 
our State are wonderful stewards of conserving our natural resources 
and the great outdoors, and they exercise personal responsibility and 
great care in protecting their favorite place to go fishing.
  It is really to the disbelief of the Army Corps of Engineers that we 
already know when it is safe or not to go fish in these tailwaters. So 
what we're saying is let's right this wrong, and let's allow 
individuals to get back and enjoy the Freedom to Fish Act. Pass it 
today.
  Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the time.
  I really appreciate the information from my colleagues on the other 
side. It is only for 2 years, which is time enough to be able to have 
the Corps and the individual participants be able to come to some 
agreement.
  The fact that there is, according to my colleague, no fishing, I 
think it's only in certain areas, which would be at the lip of the dam 
and below the

[[Page H2827]]

dam where the spill is where there is danger of boats getting swamped, 
and so it is something that we need to look forward and see what 
happens.

  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Kentucky (Mr. Barr).
  Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, spring is upon us, a season that is important 
to several of Kentucky's signature industries. Not only does spring 
signify horse racing and the Kentucky Derby, but it also marks the 
beginning of the adventure and outdoor tourism season as well.
  Tourism is an $11.7 billion signature industry in my State, employing 
over 166,000 Kentuckians and accounting for 1 in 10 jobs across the 
Commonwealth. A major part of Kentucky tourism stems from one of 
America's favorite pastimes--fishing.
  In my district, the Kentucky River is enjoyed by many, many, as it 
stretches from the Daniel Boone National Forest and meanders through 
horse farms in the central Bluegrass, specifically in Woodford and 
Franklin Counties.
  Fishermen especially enjoy fishing in the Kentucky River's tailwaters 
surrounding locks and dams, areas notorious for having an abundance of 
fish. Unfortunately, the Army Corps of Engineers has decided to 
prohibit tailwater fishing in a sister river just south of my district, 
the Cumberland River, where many of my constituents travel to engage in 
their favorite pastime.
  This is yet another example of government overreach, where this time 
the government is telling us how to fish in water systems that have 
been safely utilized for generations. We must not allow the Corps to 
set a precedent for regulating how Kentuckians and Americans alike 
spend their time outdoors.
  As our fragile economy continues to recover, my constituents tell me 
that they plan on sticking closer to home to recreate this spring and 
summer. Overregulation of fishing is a deterrent to family time and 
harms our local businesses that depend on the revenue from seasonal 
recreation and tourism.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in support of the Freedom to Fish Act, 
which places a 2-year moratorium on the Corps' plan to restrict access 
to tailwaters in the Cumberland River.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mr. SHUSTER. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.
  Mr. BARR. This will allow us time to implement a permanent plan to 
halt Army Corps from setting a precedent of restricting access to any 
tailwaters going forward.
  I'm an original cosponsor of this legislation--and I applaud the 
leadership of Mr. Whitfield, my colleague from Kentucky--and that does 
exactly this: protect fishermen in rural economies and Americans' right 
to choose how they recreate.
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, it's now a great pleasure for me to yield 2 
minutes to the gentleman from Frog Jump, Tennessee (Mr. Fincher).
  Mr. FINCHER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for yielding.
  I have had the privilege of fishing actually on the Cumberland River 
at Barkley Dam. My grandfather took me many times to fish there. And 
how this would work, and why it's such a good fishing spot is, when 
they would release the water from the top of the dam and when it would 
come under and come in the back of the dam, the waters would roll up, 
and the big fish that we talk about would roll up off the bottom, and 
that's why the fishing is so good.
  And it's like we don't have enough things to do in Washington that 
we're dealing with this issue today. I want to thank Mr. Whitfield for 
bringing this up, but commonsense solutions to problems are what we 
should be talking about. And the Corps, in many respects, they do good 
work, but bringing this up, stopping the fishing from occurring at the 
dams and on the rivers, the Cumberland River in specific, is 
ridiculous.
  We need to get down to the business of America--let's let people fish 
where they've always fished, like my grandfather took me to Barkley Dam 
over and over and over, time and time again--and get to the real 
issues.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation today, and let's 
give the power back to the people--commonsense solutions for real 
problems.

                              {time}  1410

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, in closing, once again, I just want to 
applaud our leadership for bringing this legislation to the floor 
today. As I said earlier, this is an excellent opportunity, excellent 
example for Congress to exercise our constitutional authority over 
these Federal agencies.
  With that, I would urge all my colleagues to join in supporting this 
important legislation, S. 982, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, S. 982.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________