[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 65 (Friday, May 1, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E650]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2016

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                               speech of

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 29, 2015

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2028) making 
     appropriations for energy and water development and related 
     agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and 
     for other purposes:

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague and friend, Mr. Beyer, 
for his leadership on this issue.
  Our friends on the other side of the aisle are once again attempting 
to substitute Congress' will outside its purview, this time by 
prohibiting the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA from finalizing 
their Waters of the U.S. rule.
  This is nothing new.
  Earlier this year they tried to get into the local permitting process 
by forcing states to accept the Keystone XL pipeline. As a former local 
government official you can imagine how shocked I was at that effort.
  And let us not forget how often they seek to tell the District of 
Columbia, and its residents, how they should be governed.
  Now, my friends wish to halt federal rulemaking prescribed under the 
Clean Water Act, almost a decade in the making and after more than a 
million public comments and numerous public hearings and stakeholder 
meetings, just before a final rule is released.
  Remember, it was Congress and the Supreme Court who asked for 
clarification for what should be defined as ``navigable waters.''
  Today, nearly 60 percent of our nation's streams and millions of 
acres of wetlands currently lack clear protection from pollution under 
the Clean Water Act. Current loopholes put at risk 2 million miles of 
our streams, threatening the drinking water of 117 million Americans, 
and jeopardizing 20 million acres of wetlands.
  The proposed rule would provide an estimated $388 million to $514 
million annually of benefits to the public, including reducing 
flooding, filtering pollution, providing wildlife habitat, supporting 
hunting and fishing, and recharging groundwater. The public benefits 
significantly outweigh the costs for mitigating impacts to streams and 
wetlands, and taking steps to reduce pollution to our waterways.
  Why don't we let the rulemaking process finish and then we can see if 
it needs to be fixed. The Beyer-Connolly amendment will do that. But 
let's not jump to judgement.
  Congress has a role to play. But it shouldn't be as an intransigent 
obstacle.

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