[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 153 (Wednesday, October 30, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           WATER RESOURCES REFORM AND DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2013

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. DANIEL T. KILDEE

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 23, 2013

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3080) to 
     provide for improvements to the rivers and harbors of the 
     United States, to provide for the conservation and 
     development of water and related resources, and for other 
     purposes:

  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Chair, I would first like to commend the 
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for working together on 
this bipartisan legislation. The collaboration between Chairman 
Schuster, Ranking Member Rahall and the rest of the committee 
demonstrates that we can work together to invest in our nation's 
infrastructure to make the U.S. more competitive and grow the economy. 
The backlog of unfinished water infrastructure projects and maintenance 
is hindering economic recovery and hurting small businesses by slowing 
trade. This bill helps address the backlog by updating critical 
infrastructure to allow goods to move more efficiently across our 
nation's waterways, ports and coasts.
  However, like most pieces of legislation, this bill is not perfect. 
Although this bill makes some critical improvements to current law, I 
continue to be concerned with changes in environmental assessments and 
public comment periods in the U.S. Army Corps' project approval 
process. That is why I supported Rep. Peter DeFazio's (OR-04) amendment 
requiring the Army Corps to decrease their backlog of water 
infrastructure improvements to under $20 billion before the modified 
environmental assessment process can go into effect. There are 
currently over $40 billion in projects that have been authorized under 
the current approval process, but they lack sufficient appropriations 
to actually complete them. While I understand the need to improve the 
Army Corps' project approval process, it would be helpful to start 
addressing the lack of appropriated funds for previously authorized 
projects.
  Although Rep. DeFazio's amendment failed, I still supported this 
legislation because it makes many important improvements to the Great 
Lakes water infrastructure that will improve transportation and trade 
as well as protect against invasive species. I will continue to fight 
for policies that help the Army Corps decrease its backlog of 
construction and maintenance projects and protect our precious natural 
resources.

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