[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 163 (Tuesday, November 3, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7703-S7715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF A RULE SUBMITTED BY THE
CORPS OF ENGINEERS AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROCTECTION AGENCY
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the joint resolution.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A joint resolution (S.J. Res. 22) providing for
congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United
States Code, of the rule submitted by the Corps of Engineers
and the Environmental Protection Agency relating to the
definition of ``waters of the United States'' under the
Federal Water Pollution Control Act.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Pursuant to 5 USC 802(d)(2), there is 10 hours
of debate, equally divided, on the joint resolution.
The Senator from Iowa.
Mrs. ERNST. Madam President, I wish to take a quick moment and thank
my friends, my colleagues for supporting this effort, and I look
forward to some lively discussion on the EPA's overreach and this WOTUS
rule. I encourage my fellow Republicans and my fellow Democrats to
carefully consider what this overreach by the EPA does to their home
States. Just as it does in Iowa--it covers 97 percent of our land. I
encourage them to listen to their constituents very carefully as we
move forward on this debate and this vote.
Again, I thank my colleagues for supporting this effort.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I wish to congratulate our friend and
colleague, the Senator from Iowa, on this strong vote on the motion to
proceed to this congressional resolution of disapproval of this
overreaching regulation issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.
I want to talk a little bit about this rule, but I also want to talk
about how symptomatic this is of the overreach we are seeing coming
from the executive branch, particularly when it involves rulemaking.
This rule is a response to a Supreme Court decision and a number of
other decisions by the lower courts which held previously that the
Federal Government had overreached when it comes to trying to regulate
so-called navigable waters of the United States.
I think there is no real question in anybody's mind that under the
interstate commerce provisions of the U.S. Constitution, the Federal
Government has a responsibility when it comes to navigable waters, but,
as the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals said in a decision it handed down
on October 9, the plaintiffs in the case against the Environmental
Protection Agency and this particular rule established a substantial
possibility of success on the merits of their claims where they said
that the rule's treatment of tributaries, adjacent waters, and waters
having a significant nexus to navigable waters is at odds with the
Supreme Court's decision in the Rapanos case, which was handed down in
2006. It said also that the provisions of the rule make it unclear as
to the distance limitations, whether it is harmonious with the
decisions of the Supreme Court. So, for example, if you could say the
tributary that feeds another body of water that feeds another body of
water that then feeds another body of water that eventually gets into
navigable water is subject to the rulemaking authority of the
Environmental Protection Agency is in conflict with the decision in the
Rapanos case, and I don't believe it would ever withstand
constitutional scrutiny.
Moreover, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals said the rulemaking
process by which the so-called distance limitations were adopted is
suspect. They said it did not include any proposed distance limitation
in use of the terms such as ``adjacent waters'' or ``significant
nexus.'' So under the opinion of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, a
body of water could be far removed from that navigable water and still
be determined as an adjacent water or have a significant nexus and be
subject to the far-reaching provisions of the rule.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals also said that there was no
scientific support for the distance limitations that were included in
the final rule.
The plaintiffs contended and the Sixth Circuit agreed that this rule
is not the product of reasoned decisionmaking and is vulnerable to
attack as impermissibly arbitrary or capricious under the
Administrative Procedure Act.
Ordinarily, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said, they
would not issue a stay pending the resolution of the challenge to the
rule, but they said the sheer breadth of the ripple effect caused by
the rule's definitional changes counsel strongly in favor of
maintaining the status quo for the time being. They also noted that the
rule had already been stayed in 13 different States where previous
litigation had been filed and decided. So, as a result, on October 9,
the Sixth Circuit
[[Page S7704]]
Court of Appeals issued a nationwide stay for the very rule that is the
subject of this Congressional Review Act vote that we just had and that
we will have after 10 hours of debate.
But beyond the arcane provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act
and what is navigable water and what is adjacent water, what has a
sufficient nexus and the like, I think what we need to recognize is
that this rule represents the single largest private property grab
perhaps in American history because it claims as Federal jurisdiction
private property that previously had not been thought of as having any
nexus or connection with Federal authority or even interstate
commerce--potholes, drainage ditches, culverts, stock ponds, things
such as that that are arguably now within the ambit of this rule, and
that cannot be the case.
That is why so many of us have heard not just from our farmers,
cattle raisers, and agriculture producers, but we have heard from
people in the construction business, people who are concerned about
this private property grab, and they said this cannot be the case. As I
said, farmers and ranchers, homebuilders, manufacturers, utilities, the
concrete industry--any entity that builds or develops on real estate
will likely be impacted.
I am very happy that under the leadership of the Senator from Iowa,
we have gotten this far on this congressional resolution of
disapproval, and I hope that after this debate--perhaps tomorrow--we
will be in a position to send this to the President of the United
States stating views of the U.S. Senate and Congress that this rule
simply is too broad and cannot stand.
The Sixth Circuit Court's opinion is not a substitute for what we do
under the Congressional Review Act. It is part of our responsibility as
Members of the U.S. Congress.
In my State, as, I am sure, in other places around the country,
farming and ranching is more than a job. It is a way of life. It is
part of our culture and very definitely a family affair. In fact, about
98 percent of all farms and ranches in Texas are family-owned. When I
am back home and have the chance to visit with those who provide the
food and the fiber to feed and clothe us, they are very concerned about
this legislation--as they should be--because it not only represents a
threat to their way of life and their ability to provide for their
families and for our States and our country, it is a power grab
unprecedented in U.S. history.
In May, the Environmental Protection Agency released the final rule
that is supposed to protect our water. Who could be opposed to that?
Well, nobody if they had done it within the Constitution and within the
law. That sounds innocuous enough. But in reality, it acts as a Federal
land grab, one which would add significant costs to our farmers and
ranchers and which has the potential to greatly intrude on the private
property of landowners.
While we all can agree that clean water is a priority, the Obama
administration has overstepped that goal and pitted the EPA and the
Army Corps of Engineers against the hard-working farmers and ranchers
in Texas and across the country. But it is not just the agriculture
sector, as I mentioned a moment ago. I have been hearing from a lot of
stakeholders back home who are incredibly concerned about the negative
potential impact this rule will have on their business. This rule is
such a vast expansion of Federal jurisdiction that multiple sectors of
our economy could be adversely affected--as I said, homebuilders, the
oil and gas industry, mining companies, and manufacturers.
This rule is not just some simple, straightforward provision to
protect water; it is a veiled threat against the private sector and a
blueprint for stifling economic growth in our country.
In 2014 the economy in my State grew roughly 5.2 percent. We were
among the most fortunate States in the Nation to see a lot of job
growth and opportunity. That is why people are moving to Texas--because
that is where the jobs are. Conversely, in 2014 we saw across the
country our economy grow at roughly 2.2 percent.
While we have been encouraged to see the unemployment rate tick down
little by little, the truth is that when you start getting into the
numbers, you realize that the labor participation rate--the percentage
of people actually actively looking for work--is at a 30-year low, thus
making that lower unemployment rate look better than it really is.
This is an important piece of legislation, and I know a lot of people
are paying attention to it back home and across the country because of
its impact. I am frustrated we weren't able to move the earlier
legislation forward due to a filibuster by the minority, in this case,
who are clearly trying to do everything they can to protect this
administration and its overreach, but of course all of us are going to
be held accountable at the ballot box, as we should be. Anyone who has
voted against proceeding with this commonsense legislation to rein in
an out-of-control Federal agency, I believe, will live to regret that
decision.
Congratulating Senator Grassley On casting His 12,000th Vote
Madam President, I just have one other thing to say on a different
topic. It has sort of been the quiet after we celebrated the 15,000th
vote by the Senator from Vermont very publicly the other day. Our more
reticent, and perhaps even occasionally shy, Mr. Chuck Grassley, the
senior Senator from Iowa, celebrated his 12,000th vote in the Senate.
Senator Grassley is well known for his consistency and steadfast
commitment to the people of Iowa. I have to say, I don't know of any
Senator who works harder to get and to keep the trust and confidence of
the people he represents. This 12,000th vote should come as no
surprise. He actually hasn't even missed a vote since 1993. Every year
for more than 30 years, Senator Grassley has demonstrated his
commitment to the people of Iowa by visiting every one of the State's
99 counties.
I know he keeps his colleague, the junior Senator from Iowa, Mrs.
Ernst, running just trying to keep up with him. That is an impressive
record for anyone, and one that many--including our Presidential
candidates--sometimes need to try to duplicate.
I will speak, for just a second, beyond statistics about Senator
Grassley because I have the honor of serving with him on both the
Finance and Judiciary Committees. He has worked tirelessly, not just
for the people of Iowa but for all Americans. Indeed, my colleague
shares my concern for creating a more open and transparent government.
As somebody who is conservative by ideology and by nature, I was not
sent by my constituents in Texas to pass more rules and regulations. I
am here to hold the government, and particularly the bureaucracy,
accountable. One way we can do that, without adding additional
regulations, rules, and costs to the taxpayer, is by encouraging an
open and more transparent government because with that comes
accountability.
Senator Grassley has used his role as chairman of the Judiciary
Committee to advance these values and to hold government and the
bureaucracy accountable for the benefit of not just Iowans but for the
benefit of the American people.
I thank the Senator from Iowa for the great example he sets for the
rest of us and applaud him for casting his 12,000th vote.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I rise to speak in support of the CRA,
Congressional Review Act amendment on the waters of the United States,
of my colleague from Iowa. West Virginia is no stranger to the crushing
consequences of harmful regulations. Our unemployment rate is the
largest in the Nation. Layoff notices keep coming and declining
revenues from coal severance taxes are eroding our State's budget. I
read an article earlier today saying that this far into the fiscal year
in the State of West Virginia we have a deficit of $91 million.
The EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers waters of the United States
rule, known as the WOTUS rule, is just the latest example of a
regulatory environment that threatens to put West Virginians and other
Americans out of business. Everyone can agree--and the Senator from
Texas just talked about this and I know the Senator from Iowa has
talked about it frequently--that we must protect our drinking water
resources, and we also must protect our precious natural resources, but
a rule that subjects puddles and ditches to
[[Page S7705]]
regulations just goes too far. The EPA's unprecedented expansion of
Federal authority has very serious consequences, both in the State I
represent, West Virginia, and throughout the rest of the country.
In my State of West Virginia, the steep mountainous terrain means
that the EPA would have oversight over any land located in the valley
or low-lying area. If you have been to West Virginia, you know you are
either on a mountain or in a valley in a low-lying area. There is very
little flat land.
The West Virginia Coal Association pointed out that the WOTUS rule
would trigger ``an alphabet soup of statutes, regulatory programs and
federal regulatory agencies'' involved in traditionally nonregulated
activities. Something as simple as digging a ditch on a farm or
building a home on privately owned property could be under the purview
of the EPA and a failure to comply with that rule could result in fines
as high as $37,500 a day.
A county commissioner from Monongalia County recently wrote to my
office expressing concerns that this WOTUS rule would impede the
county's attempt to create developable tracks of land needed to attract
large employers in West Virginia.
I will remind everyone that developable land in a State like mine is
very difficult to create because it is not natural and it would create
a lot of those low-lying areas, ditches, and puddles that this
regulation goes way beyond to regulate.
A small business owner in Scott Depot, WV, shared her concern that
small businesses were not adequately considered in the WOTUS rule. She
said:
Government regulations, like the proposed rule, are
complicated, expensive to navigate, and a real obstacle to my
growing business. This change, and its ridiculous overreach
and restrictions could decrease land value and hinder my
ability to expand, develop and use my own private land.
We talk a lot about creating jobs in this country. This is a quote
from a small business owner who is concerned about her ability to
control her own destiny with her own small business on her own
privately owned land. I think this is the reason that 31 States,
including West Virginia, are suing to overturn this misguided rule, and
two courts have already found it likely illegal.
Rather than incorporating thoughts from Congress and concerned
Americans, this misguided rule doubles down on overreach and threatens
to impede small businesses, agriculture, manufacturing, coal, natural
gas production, and many other vital sectors of the economy as the
Senator from Texas just talked about.
The decision by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to block the
implementation of the WOTUS rule nationwide confirms that WOTUS was the
wrong approach to protecting our water resources and reinforces the
need to rein in this administration's unprecedented and overreaching
regulations.
Along with colleagues on both sides of the aisle--just this afternoon
at 2:30 p.m.--I proudly supported Senator Barrasso's Federal Water
Quality Protection Act, which would have directed the EPA and the Corps
of Engineers to withdraw this rule, go back to the drawing board, and
issue an alternative approach that is crafted in consultation with
State and local governments and small businesses.
The bill we voted on earlier today received bipartisan support from
57 Senators but only partisan opposition. Both Republicans and
Democrats supported moving forward on the Federal Water Quality
Protection Act because we wanted to offer a real solution that would
bring clarity and common sense to the protection of our Nation's
waters.
This legislation would have provided certainty to farmers,
manufacturers, energy producers, State and local governments, and
anyone seeking to do virtually anything on private land. Unfortunately,
41 Democrats stopped a bipartisan majority from considering this bill.
We must now consider other options to block the misguided WOTUS
regulation issued by the EPA and Corps of Engineers.
I am glad we will have the opportunity to vote on a Congressional
Review Act resolution of disapproval offered by the Senator from Iowa.
This resolution would protect hard-working West Virginia families,
small businesses, energy producers, and others across the country who
would be unfairly burdened by this onerous and deeply flawed WOTUS
rule. The WOTUS rule would lead to a massive expansion, again, of
costly permitting requirements and hinder our already struggling
economy, an outcome West Virginia and the Nation simply cannot afford.
I urge my colleagues to join with me and the Senator from Iowa, who
is leading the charge in such an admiral way in supporting this
important effort to block the harmful WOTUS rule.
With that, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.
Federal Water Quality Protection Bill
Mrs. FISCHER. Madam President, I rise not only in support of the
critical bipartisan legislation that was before the Senate earlier
today but also in support of the proposal of the Senator from Iowa that
is before us now. While the measure failed to secure the necessary
votes earlier today, the fight is not over.
The Federal Water Quality Protection Act would have enabled American
citizens to maintain control over their water resources, and it would
have stopped the administration's WOTUS rule. Congress has already
limited the Federal Government's regulatory authority under the Clean
Water Act to only navigable waterways, but instead of following the
law, this administration has broadened the definition of ``waters of
the United States'' and extended Federal authority far beyond the law's
original intent.
The rule, which is commonly referred to as WOTUS, exponentially
expands Federal jurisdiction over all water--from prairie potholes to
ditches and everything in between. Ultimately, this rule prevents State
and local agencies from effectively regulating our water by placing
control in the hands of Washington bureaucrats.
I am proud to have worked with my colleagues on a bipartisan effort
to overturn this dangerous rule and force both the EPA and the Army
Corps of Engineers to go back to the drawing board. Our legislation,
known as the Federal Water Quality Protection Act, would have required
the administration to consult with States and local stakeholders before
imposing the Federal regulations on our State-owned water resources.
Additionally, the bill would have ensured a thorough economic analysis
to make sure that was conducted before restricting States from managing
their own natural resources.
The importance of allowing our States to manage these resources hit
home during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee field
hearing that I chaired in Lincoln, NE, this past March. At the hearing,
a wide variety of Nebraska stakeholders provided personal accounts of
how this will affect families, businesses, and communities all across
our State.
One witness from the Nebraska State Home Builders Association noted
that 25 percent of the current cost associated with building a new home
are due to existing regulations. Adding more Federal rules and
regulations will only put that American dream of owning a home out of
reach for most of us. That is not right, and that is not the kind of
government people want.
Additionally, the Common Sense Nebraska Coalition noted that the
sweeping impact of this rule would affect everyone, from county
officials trying to build a road to farmers trying to manage that
rainwater runoff.
The WOTUS rule affects much more than rural America. Our
municipalities are charged with wastewater, storm water, and flood
control systems, as well as providing drinking water, electricity, and
natural gas to our citizens. Taxpayers will shoulder these added costs.
We are going to pay more for road construction. We will pay more for
levees that protect our drinking water. We will pay more for wastewater
improvements, and that will cost our families. Those higher taxes will
hurt our families.
With the expanded definition of ``navigable water'' under this rule
and our extensive aquifer system, the Federal Government can assert
control over nearly all the water in the State of Nebraska. Nebraskans
take their role in protecting and conserving our natural resources very
seriously. Responsible
[[Page S7706]]
resource management, including the careful stewardship of our water, is
the cornerstone of my State's economy.
We all also understand that the people closest to a resource are the
ones who manage it best. That is a principle that is shared across this
country. That is why I am committed to working with my colleagues to
manage responsibly our Nation's water for our current and future
generations. I don't believe the Federal Government should focus on
ways to make life harder for people. That is not what we were sent to
do. Instead we need to explore policy options that will promote growth
and conservation.
I am proud to be an original cosponsor of the Federal Water Quality
Protection Act. This important bipartisan legislation would have set
clear limits on the Federal regulation of water. I am disappointed the
Obama administration would force this irresponsible, overreaching rule
on hard-working Americans. We have a duty to roll back this rule. We
have a duty to prevent the harm it will inflict.
I encourage all of my colleagues to come together on this so we can
ensure that job creators, communities, and families from across the
country can continue to prosper.
Thank you, Madam President.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. GARDNER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. GARDNER. Madam President, there is a saying by Thomas Hornsby
Ferrill engraved on the walls of the Colorado State Capitol that reads,
``Here is a land where life is written in water. . . . '' I come to the
floor to talk about the most precious natural resource in the West;
that is, of course, our water. Water in the West has helped shape
communities, agriculture, tourism, and industry. The management of that
water has been traditionally controlled at the State and local level,
not the Federal Government.
Colorado is the State of origin for four major river basins: The
Colorado, the Arkansas, the Platte, and the Rio Grande. These water
basins help make for a robust agricultural economy throughout the
State. According to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, this
industry contributes nearly $41 billion to the State economy and
employs nearly 173,000 people. Colorado has more than 35,000 farms and
ranches and more than 31 million acres for farming and ranching.
The State ranks in the top five nationwide for production of products
ranging from potatoes and cantaloupes to sunflowers and wheat.
Unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency has decided to put
forth a rule that would endanger many of these farms as well as the
jobs and local economies they help support. The waters of the United
States rule, known as WOTUS, would significantly expand the definition
of navigable waters under the Clean Water Act. With this rule, the EPA
and the Army Corps of Engineers have unilaterally decided that isolated
ponds and irrigation ditches may be subject to the same Federal
oversight as the Mississippi River. They are doing all of this based on
authority passed by Congress more than 40 years ago.
Instead, this rule could have significant negative impacts on
agriculture, industry, local utilities, and water districts, merely by
the uncertainty it creates with local entities trying to determine if
their water is subject to Federal oversight.
According to the Colorado Farm Bureau, an additional 1.3 million
acres of land and an additional 170,000 stream miles in Colorado alone
could be subject to Federal Government jurisdiction. It is important to
point out that Colorado is a lower 48 State, one of the only lower 48
States that has all water flowing out of it and no water flowing into
it. Farmers and ranchers would likely be subjected to increased
permitting requirements under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act to
canals and ditches on their own land. Even if their land is exempted,
as some would have you believe from the WOTUS rule under the proposed
exclusions, there is already an air of uncertainty for these farmers
and ranchers who will have to try and navigate the Federal bureaucracy
to determine if they have to apply for the increased permitting
requirements.
It is no secret that the Environmental Protection Agency often works
very slowly in the regulatory and permitting process. Two water
projects in Colorado with bipartisan support, the Northern Integrated
Supply Project and Gross Reservoir Expansion, have languished in the
regulatory process for more than a decade. The waters of the United
States rule is simply not the answer.
The Federal Government should not be passing expansive new laws
without the consent of Congress to regulate every drop of water. The
EPA wants you to believe that the proposed WOTUS rule is not a major
expansion of power and that this rule does not add any new requirements
for agriculture or interfere with private property rights or include
the regulation of most irrigation ditches.
Fortunately, our Nation maintains a separation of power. On October
9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a nationwide
stay for the waters of the United States rule after a lawsuit was filed
by 18 States, including the State of Colorado. The order of stay
specifically states that the rule effectively redraws the
jurisdictional lines over our Nation's waters and that the States and
others would be harmed if the justice system did not act.
I applaud the Sixth Circuit for their action and for the 18 States
that moved forward to protect control of the water within their
boundaries. Now I believe it is time for Congress to act.
Unfortunately, yesterday we watched as a strictly partisan minority
blocked S. 1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act authored by
Senator Barrasso of Wyoming.
This legislation, which had moved through the Senate under regular
order and in a bipartisan fashion, would seek to have the EPA and
others make significant revisions to the WOTUS rule and would throw out
the current rule. It calls for significant consultations with State and
local governments who actually control the water. I believe this
consultation process is a significant step forward.
I have heard from many water districts and utilities throughout
Colorado. They all have major concerns with the WOTUS rule in its
current form and the unintended consequences of the rule. But because
of this partisan minority of Senators blocking the legislative vehicle
to try to address the many shortcomings of the WOTUS rule, I believe we
have no other choice but to move forward in disapproving of the rule in
its entirety. I applaud my friend and colleague Senator Ernst of Iowa
for her work in introducing S.J. Res. 22, which provides for
Congressional disapproval of the waters of the United States rule.
That is why I have come to the floor today, to urge a ``yes'' vote on
S.J. Res. 22 because in Colorado, we know that we have to stick up for
our water rights. In Colorado, we know we have to stand up for our
water law. In Colorado, we know that we have to keep the Feds' hands
off our water rights. I urge the adoption of this measure.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in
morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Gardner). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I am here to actually address some of the
recent developments on the Keystone XL Pipeline. Before going into
that, I would like to take a minute, though, and mention the
Congressional Review Act that is before us now and how important it is
that we pass it.
I want to commend Senator Ernst for her diligence on this very
important matter. The waters of the United States is a regulation
issued by the EPA that goes far beyond their statutory authority, far
beyond the statutory authority that Congress has given them under a
legal theory referred to as ``significant nexus.'' It is something I
have worked on for a long time. In fact, I have included a bill that
would defund the regulation as part of the EPA appropriations bill in
our appropriations, both at the subcommittee and the full committee
level.
[[Page S7707]]
So I certainly hope and feel that the good Senator from Iowa will be
successful in this CRA effort, as far as getting it through Congress. I
think it will go through in strong fashion in both the Senate and the
House, thanks to her good work and, of course, the underlying
importance of the issue.
Of course, our challenge will be with the administration. I hope the
administration will look at the strong support here in Congress and
listen to the people of this great country, the farmers and ranchers
across our country, and the small business people across the country
who know so well that WOTUS is a serious problem for them. I hope the
President will consider them and not veto the legislation, but I am
concerned that he will veto it. And if he does, then we will continue
to work through the appropriations process to defund this legislation.
Again, even if we are not able to deauthorize it through the CRA
process, we will work to defund it. Of course, the disadvantage with
defunding is that only goes for a year, but obviously that would take
us through most of the balance of the Obama administration and
hopefully get us to a fresh start.
I think the key point, though, is that we rescind this onerous
regulation. That can be through deauthorizing it, it can be through
defunding it, and, in fact, it can be through litigation. I think in
excess of 30 States have joined in litigation across the country
pushing back on this onerous regulation. In fact, the Federal district
court in North Dakota stayed the regulation. That stay was upheld, that
injunction was upheld by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in
Cincinnati, OH. So right now there is a national stay on this
regulation, which I think just goes to show that we are on the right
track here because we are coming at it from so many angles with so many
people who are saying: Look, this is common sense. This is a big-time
overreach by EPA. It adversely affects farmers, ranchers, small
businesses, and property rights. In fact, in this great country, it
adversely affects property rights. So through deauthorization,
defunding, and the legal process, we will work to rescind it.
Again, I wish to echo the strong comments of my esteemed colleague
from the great State of Colorado and also acknowledge and commend the
good Senator from the State of Iowa on her efforts to lead the charge.
Keystone XL Pipeline
Mr. President, I wish to speak, as I said, for up to 10 minutes as in
morning business on the subject of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Yesterday, after 7 years--7 years starting in September of 2008--the
TransCanada company asked the U.S. State Department to pause or suspend
its application to build the Keystone XL Pipeline. The company asked
for that pause because it is working through an application process for
route approval by the Public Service Commission in Nebraska. The
Governor and the legislature in Nebraska actually approved the route
for the pipeline in Nebraska, but after many lawsuits in the State of
Nebraska and demonstrations, often led by movie stars and other
celebrities, the company has chosen what I would call a belt-and-
suspenders approach. Essentially, they have decided that in spite of
the fact that they have received approval from the Governor, the
legislature, and that that decision has been upheld by the Nebraska
Supreme Court, they are going back and they are going through the
process with the Nebraska Public Service Commission. So that is why I
say it is really a belt-and-suspenders approach. Now they are going
back, and in addition to the approvals they have already received, in
addition to the decision by the Nebraska Supreme Court, now they are
going back through the Public Service Commission process in Nebraska as
well. The thing about that is it will take about a year to do it.
So now TransCanada is asking for forbearance from the Obama
administration--not because the company hasn't met all the legal and
regulatory requirements. It has. It has met all of them and it spent
millions of dollars doing so. But, rather, TransCanada is asking for
forbearance on the project because the company is once again going
through all of the requirements, all the regulations, and all the
redtape to get every approval--State, local, and ultimately Federal--
for the project. That is why I call it, as I said, the belt-and-
suspenders approach.
Now we will see what the Obama administration does with TransCanada's
request. Will they now hold off or wait on their denial decision, which
the Obama administration obviously wants to make based on their
environmental agenda, or will they honor TransCanada's request to pause
or suspend the project, just as they have made TransCanada wait now for
7 years pending all of the administration's requirements, including the
Obama administration's adamant concern that the process in Nebraska be
fully completed before the administration render a decision. Remember,
this administration made a big deal about waiting until the Nebraska
process was fully completed before the administration would make a
decision. So let's see what they do. As I have just outlined, that
process would probably take another year.
So will they forbear on making a decision now after they held the
process up 7 years? Will they honor the request by TransCanada to pause
while the company completes this process in Nebraska or will they say
no, in spite of their concern that that be fully completed? Will they
go ahead and in essence reverse themselves on process and deny the
project? Well, we will see. We will see what they do. But if they don't
grant this pause or suspend the application pending completion of the
project in Nebraska, it seems to me like a double standard. On the one
hand, they hold up the project for 7 years and they say the company
must go fully through the process in Nebraska. So for them now to say
``No, we are not going to provide the time to do that'' seems, in fact,
very much like a double standard.
As I have talked about in this Chamber before and as I think the
administration is very well aware--and I think that is part of the
reason they have held up on making a decision rather than turning down
the project--this is a project which is overwhelmingly supported by the
American people. In poll after poll, there is 65 percent to 70 percent
support by the American people. Also, it is supported by Congress. It
passed overwhelmingly with more than 60 votes in this Chamber. It
passed with a big bipartisan majority in the House.
Another consideration obviously now for the administration is, what
about the new administration in Canada? The Trudeau administration is
coming in, and the new Prime Minister in Canada supports the project.
So what is the message to Canada if the administration says ``No, we
are not going to honor that company's request for a stay or a pause or
an extension on the project now'' and instead goes ahead and turns it
down?
The administration's own Quadrennial Energy Review dedicates a whole
chapter to the benefits of integrating North American energy markets.
The administration states that ``energy system integration is in the
long term interest of the United States, Canada, and Mexico, as it
expands the size of energy markets, creates economies of scale to
attract private investment, lowers capital costs, and reduces energy
costs for consumers.'' That is right out of their own Quadrennial
Energy Review, prepared by their own Department of Energy, which says
we need to work with Canada on energy.
So what will they do? In spite of all of that, will they turn down
the project now or will they treat the company fairly and give them due
process?
Well, regardless of the decision the Obama administration makes, I
think in the final analysis the project will be approved. It might take
a year, it might take a little over a year, but I think in the final
analysis this project will be approved. It should be approved because
the people of this country overwhelmingly support it and recognize that
it is in their interest and to their benefit. But what it really comes
down to is the merits. In the final analysis, a project should be
approved or disapproved on the merits, right? And the merits are these,
very simple: To build the kind of energy plan that we want for this
country, where we are energy secure--meaning we produce more energy
than we consume--we have to build the energy infrastructure we need to
move that energy safely and efficiently from where it is produced to
[[Page S7708]]
where it is consumed. That means we need pipelines, we need
transmission lines, we need rail, and we need road to move that energy
as safely and cost-effectively as possible.
If you think about it, that doesn't mean just oil and gas; that means
all types of energy. That means renewables too, right, to move those
electrons through transmission lines. We need the energy infrastructure
for the right kind of energy plan for this country--energy from
sources, traditional and renewable, to move that energy as safely and
as cost-effectively as possible.
So what is the message here? The message is very simple: If we want
companies to step up and invest the hundreds of millions and billions
of dollars it takes to build that infrastructure, then we have to have
a legal and regulatory process where they know that if they go through
it and they meet all the requirements, they can then get approval for
the hundreds of millions that they invest to get that done and to build
these projects.
That is energy infrastructure we need to build so that we don't
continue to rely on OPEC or let Russia dominate the energy markets or
rely on countries such as Venezuela, and ultimately, that is what the
American people want. That energy security, that energy independence,
if you will, working with our closest friend and ally, like Canada, and
developing energy in this country, is what the American people want.
That is what the American people want because it makes us strong and
secure.
This is just one project, but it is about all of the projects we need
to build to make this Nation energy secure. That is why ultimately this
project will be approved on the merits.
With that, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania.
The Budget
Mr. TOOMEY. Mr. President, I wish to speak this evening a little bit
about the budget deal that was recently enacted. There are three parts
of that I wish to address. One is the spending increases, another is
the debt ceiling, and finally there is the Crime Victims Fund, which--I
am very upset about this.
Starting with spending, it shouldn't be controversial--but of course
it is--that we spend too much money here. We spend way too much money.
There are any number of metrics that would confirm and demonstrate how
much we overspend, but I think the most compelling is the size of the
deficit that all this spending is creating, with record revenue. I want
to underscore that. The Federal Treasury is taking in record amounts of
tax revenue. So with alltime-record levels of revenue, we are still
spending so much above and beyond that that this year we are going to
run about a $450 billion deficit.
There are some people in this town who practically sprained their
arms patting themselves on their backs because it used to be a $1
trillion deficit. That is true, but $450 billion is still way too much.
We have too much debt now, and a $450 billion deficit this year is
going to add $450 billion to a debt level that is already too big. And
guess what. All forecasts, everybody's forecasts--liberal,
conservative, Democrat, Republican, CBO, private sector--everybody
agrees the deficits are on path to get worse. So we are spending too
much. Our deficits are too big. They are adding to a debt that is
already too high, already doing damage to our economy, our ability to
create jobs, because of all the uncertainty and the risk that all this
debt creates. And what happens? The only spending discipline we have
been able to achieve in recent years--the spending caps that were
enacted in 2011--the President insists we have to bust them.
Many of us believe we should be spending more on defense. If we are
going to do that--I think part of our job is to prioritize spending.
National security, defending our country, should be our No. 1 priority,
and since we need to spend more there, you offset that with spending
reductions somewhere else. That would be the prudent thing to do. But
that is not what the President insisted on. The President insisted that
if we were going to spend anything more on defense, we had to match
that dollar-for-dollar with increased spending elsewhere. So not only
were we not offsetting the increase in defense spending, but we were
compounding the spending by increasing the nondefense spending. So this
deal busts the spending caps, and, in fact, the deficits will be larger
than they otherwise would be.
That leads me to the second point, and that is the debt ceiling.
Let's think about the context of where we are. When President Obama
took office, the total amount of debt owed to the public--the amount of
money the Treasury had borrowed because of previous deficits was less
than $6 trillion. It was a very big number, but it was less than $6
trillion. By the end of next year, it is going to be over $13 trillion.
So this President, by the time he leaves office, will have more than
doubled the total amount of debt we have borrowed to fund these
deficits. Another way to think about it is that this President will
have added to our debt burden by an amount greater than the sum total
of every single one of his predecessors combined, from George
Washington to George W. Bush. This is a staggering amount of debt that
we have imposed on ourselves, our kids, our grandkids, our economy, and
on our ability to be a productive country.
And what did the President say in response to all this debt? Give me
the authority to borrow more with no conditions. We are not even going
to have a discussion or a negotiation about the underlying problem that
is causing all of this debt.
I think that is, frankly, outrageous, and it is extremely unusual
because for decades now American Presidents have met with Congress, and
when we have had discussions in the past about the level of debt and
what we are going to do about it--when the Presidents have said we need
to increase our debt ceiling so that we can borrow more money--that has
very typically included a discussion about dealing with the underlying
problems.
There are many examples of this. Back in 1985, during the Reagan
administration, it was in the context of a debt ceiling debate that we
passed the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings measure, which was about limiting our
deficits and reducing the amount of debt we would incur going forward.
In 1990 George Herbert Walker Bush negotiated with Congress the Budget
Enforcement Act, which again was related to a debt ceiling increase at
the time and which adopted measures to deal with the deficits of that
day. In 1997, William Jefferson Clinton--President Clinton--with a
Republican Congress sat down and negotiated a balanced budget
agreement. And you know what happened? They balanced the budget. So
President Clinton decided to work with Republicans in Congress to deal
with this underlying problem, and within a few years we actually had
balanced budgets.
Then in 2011, in the context of the debt ceiling increase that was
discussed at the time and eventually raised, these spending caps were
established as a way to at least do something about this runaway
spending and these excessive deficits and the debt. But this time the
President had a different view. His view was that he would not even
have a discussion. There would be no negotiations, no consideration. We
are not even going to talk about the underlying problem. He wanted to
have unlimited authority to borrow more money through the end of his
Presidency, and that is what is in this deal.
So what can we expect? We can expect a whole lot more debt. That is
exactly what is going to happen. By the way, contrary to what some in
the administration like to say, this has nothing to do with paying for
past bills. We have paid for those bills. This is to enable excessive
spending going forward--the deficits we are going to incur because this
President is insisting on this overspending.
Let me get to the last point I wanted to stress today, which is one
of the really disturbing things about this budget deal and what it has
done with the Crime Victims Fund. By way of background, the Crime
Victims Fund was a fund established in 1984. It consists exclusively of
monies that are assessed to convicted criminals--corporate or
individuals. As part of their punishment, they are made to pay a fine,
and the fine goes into an account with the Federal Government. It
actually is quite substantial. Year in and year out this ends up being
actually billions of dollars.
[[Page S7709]]
The statute requires, first of all, that all this money go to victims
of crimes and their advocates, and specifically, it requires a priority
for victims of child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence and
that those three categories of crimes be given a special priority.
There are organizations that do wonderful work across Pennsylvania and
across the country in helping people who are victims of these terrible,
terrible crimes that are so difficult to recover from. There are groups
of people who do great work in helping these victims to recover.
The whole idea of the Crime Victims Fund is to take these dollars
from the criminals--not a penny of tax dollars--and give it to the
victims of crimes and the people who are advocates for them. But what
this budget deal does is it takes $1.5 billion out of the Crime Victims
Fund and it spends it on other things.
I think this is outrageous. This is not taxpayer money in the first
place. It is not as though we don't have victims of crimes anymore.
Obviously, we still do. And we have organizations that can do great
work if they had the resources. But in the absence of resources, it
means that children who are victims of child abuse don't get the
counseling and the care they need. It means a victim of domestic
violence doesn't have a place to stay when she needs protection from an
abusing spouse. It means people who really need these services are
going to go without because we are diverting this money that is
supposed to be going to crime victims and we are spending it somewhere
else.
The most important thing I want to say tonight is that it is not too
late to fix this. What the Congress passed and the President signed
last week paves the way to misallocate this money from the Crime
Victims Fund, but it doesn't require that to happen. So I have a bill
that will fix this problem. I have a bill called the Fairness for Crime
Victims Act, and what it will do is it will require that the money go
to the victims, as it was always intended.
By the way, the idea that we should not be diverting the Crime
Victims Fund to these other miscellaneous spending categories is a
bipartisan idea. There is broad bipartisan support for the idea that
the money in the Crime Victims Fund should go to victims of crime. The
Wall Street Journal ran an article on Sunday, and they quoted a crime
advocate describing the budget deal saying, this deal ``violates the
integrity of a decades-old program that funds safe havens for domestic
violence victims, counseling for abused children and financial aid for
murder victims' families, among other programs.''
Josh Shapiro is the chairman of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime
and Delinquency, and he wrote about this provision in the budget deal.
He said that it ``puts in danger our commitment to victims of crime
throughout our country.'' Democratic members of the Pennsylvania State
House agree with me that this money should not be diverted this way.
They sent a letter, among other things, saying that the budget deal
increases spending to ``the detriment of current and future crime
victims'' and that this constitutes ``a terrible precedent.''
I couldn't agree more, and that is why I hope we will pass my
legislation, the Fairness for Crime Victims Act. It ends this
injustice. Here is the way it works. It is very simple. It simply
requires that Congress allocate to crime victims and their advocates an
amount equal to the sum of the previous 3-year average that went into
the fund. So the short way to think about it is that it means we are
going to send to crime victims the money that comes in for crime
victims, and we are not going to send it somewhere else.
This means that victims of crime and their advocates are going to see
a big increase in this funding, because for years Congress has refused
to allocate all of the money that has been coming in. In the past, they
just refused to allocate it. There are budgetary gimmickry reasons for
doing that, and this needs to come to end. We certainly can't continue
diverting this fund for other purposes.
We have had colleagues--Members of this body--come to the floor and
make the point that we shouldn't use Medicare and Social Security funds
as an ATM to fund other programs. I agree. We also shouldn't use the
Crime Victims Fund, which is not a single dime of taxpayer money. We
shouldn't use that to fund other programs either. It is not too late to
do the right thing for victims of some of the most heinous crimes that
are committed anywhere.
I urge my colleagues to help pass this piece of legislation. This was
reported out of the Committee on the Budget unanimously. There was very
broad bipartisan support. What happened in this budget deal is an
illustration of why my legislation is necessary. Money that is left
around in a pot somewhere in this town gets spent pretty quickly by
someone for something. This money needs to go to crime victims. If we
pass my legislation, that is where it will go.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I want to talk about what we have been
debating today on the Senate floor, the waters of the United States
rule, and legislation that has received bipartisan support so far. We
think it needs a lot more support on why this is so important for the
country.
I was a cosponsor of Senator Barrasso's bill. Unfortunately, that
bill didn't get the 60 votes necessary, but Senator Ernst has a
resolution that I think is going to be very important to pass that
would stop this rule from being enacted by the EPA. Hopefully, we will
see if the President, once this is put on his desk, has the common
sense to sign it rather than veto it.
I want to put this rule in a much broader context, to put the debate
we are having on the waters of the United States rule into the broader
context of actually what is happening in our country and how the EPA's
waters of the United States rule is actually a symbol for much broader
problems that I think the vast majority of Americans recognize.
The other night I went to a premiere of a short film on the Trans-
Alaska Pipeline system, what we call in Alaska TAPS. It is Alaska's
800-mile artery of steel that was done in the most responsible manner,
in terms of the environment, that brings much energy to our country.
When it was built, it was actually one of the biggest private sector
construction projects ever in the history of our great Nation, and
literally directly and indirectly employed tens of thousands of
Americans. It has carried almost 17 billion barrels of American oil to
energy-thirsty American markets and continues to provide thousands and
thousands of jobs, not only in Alaska but throughout the country. It is
certainly a technological and environmental marvel. Here is the thing:
That kind of huge project was built in 3 years.
Think about that, 800 miles of steel pipeline, crossing 3 mountain
ranges, more than 30 major rivers and streams, and it took Americans 3
years to build it. Go to Alaska and it is functioning incredibly well
today. We are reminded of how, when this Nation puts its mind to
something, we can get great things done. In many ways, Congress played
a critical role in making sure that incredible energy infrastructure
system happened.
We are a great nation, but I must admit when I was watching this
movie last week with a bunch of Alaskans--Senator Murkowski, Don Young,
and others--I did feel a sense of unease, almost a little nostalgia,
when we were watching this film about this great project that Americans
came together from all over the country to build. We all know we used
to do great things here and built great things. Let me give a few
examples.
In Alaska is what is called the Alcan Highway, the Alaska-Canada
Highway, through some of the world's most rugged terrain, 1,700 miles,
built in under 1 year. We built the Empire State Building in 410 days.
We built the Pentagon in 16 months, the Hoover Dam, the Interstate
Highway System, putting a man on the Moon--I could go on and on and on.
When we look at the history of this country, it is a history of getting
big things done, and it is not just getting big things done. These
projects were a symbol of American pride, of American greatness, and
they also created tens of thousands of jobs--great jobs, middle-class
jobs, which gave workers a sense that what they were doing was very
important in their daily lives and very important to their country.
In Alaska still, when you talk to someone who worked on TAPS, who
[[Page S7710]]
constructed this--for the country--they talk about it in terms of
pride, in terms of what they were doing for their State but also what
they were doing for America and how everybody came together to build
this.
Here is a sad fact: These kind of projects are not being built today.
Instead, we have become a redtape Nation. Instead of symbols of
technological wonder, national pride, and American ingenuity, we now
hear story after story--and we have all heard them in the Senate--of
delay and discord and disappointment, all of which symbolizes a country
that can't get things done. The main culprit--the main culprit--is
right here: Washington, DC, the ``Capital of Dysfunction.'' Whether it
is the Keystone Pipeline, transmission lines in California or bridges
or highways or runways across the country, killing crucial development
in infrastructure projects through permitting and regulatory delay and
Federal agency overreach with new rules upon new rules--and all they do
is stop development--this certainly has been a hallmark of the Obama
administration. The WOTUS rule--the EPA's waters of the United States
rule--is just the latest manifestation of this. As we know, this is
happening all over the country.
Frequently, because of the political risks, the President and members
of his administration, like Gina McCarthy, will not openly oppose
economic development projects. Instead, they will wrap them in redtape
until they delay them to death. Let me give some examples.
In 2008, Shell acquired leases in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of
Alaska for over $2 billion. That is a company going to the Federal
Government. The Federal Government is saying: We want to lease this
land to you. A company says: We will give you billions in return--the
Federal Government; that money has already been spent, the billions--to
develop natural resources. Of course, this was big news in Alaska. New
production of oil would have filled up three-quarters of TAPS, which I
talked about earlier. It would have created jobs, some estimates are in
the tens of thousands of jobs, direct and indirect jobs, and provided
much needed State and local revenue and energy security for our
country.
So what happened? Remember, the Federal Government is inviting a
private sector company to do this. It didn't take long for this project
to run into a maddening array of often conflicting and confusing
permitting challenges, drilling moratoriums, new regulations,
environmental lawsuits, permitting confusions, that year after year
kept the drill bit above the ground.
Now, jump to 2015. What had once been a very robust exploration
program has resulted in what happened this summer: The permission,
finally, to drill one exploration well off the coast of Alaska where
hundreds of wells have already been drilled safely. We have been doing
this safely in Alaska for decades.
Let me sum it up. It took 7 years, $7 billion, to get permission to
drill one exploration well in 100 feet of water; 7 years, $7 billion,
to finally get the Federal Government's permission to drill one single
exploration well in 100 feet of water. No company in the world can
endure that. This was a project that was meant to be delayed, delayed,
delayed until it was killed.
Some of my colleagues have been celebrating this--celebrating this. I
think that is sad because what they are really celebrating is the loss
of very good jobs for Americans throughout the country. In many ways
they are celebrating what is a symbol of America's decline.
These resources in the Arctic are going to be developed one way or
the other, and it is either going to be by countries like us who have
the highest, most responsible standards on the environment or countries
like Russia and China who don't. So the Russians and Chinese are now
going to be in charge. They are going to be producing the energy, they
are going to be getting the jobs, and they are not going to care at all
about the environment. So instead of a win-win-win for the United
States, this is a lose-lose-lose. Yet we have Members of this body
celebrating this. Again, this is not a problem confined to my State or
energy programs in terms of the delay, delay, delay. Let me provide a
few examples.
We had a recent Senate commerce committee hearing on aviation
infrastructure. Everybody thinks aviation infrastructure is important.
I certainly do. The manager of the Seattle airport was testifying. As
part of his role as CEO of the American Association of Airport
Executives, he talked about how it took almost 4 years to build the
Seattle airport's new runway. It seems like a fair amount of time.
Maybe a construction project like that takes a fair amount of time. I
had a question for him, which I didn't know the answer to. I asked him:
How long did it take to get the Federal permits, to go through the
Federal permitting system to build this additional runway at the
Seattle airport?
His answer: 15 years--15 years to get the Federal permits to build a
runway. You could have heard--well, you did hear the whole committee,
the whole audience. They gasped. Then he said: They built the Great
Pyramids of Egypt faster than that.
This is what is going on in our country, and this town is to blame.
It is happening all over the country. Americans need to know this. It
only took 9 years to permit a desalinization plan, which would provide
much needed fresh water to drought-stricken California. Simply razing a
bridge in New York--not building a new bridge, razing one--took 5 years
and 20,000 pages of Federal permitting requirements.
The average time it now takes in America to get Federal approval for
a major highway project is more than 6 years--again, not to build a
highway but to get the Federal permission. It took almost 20 years, if
you include the litigation, to get Federal permission to build a single
gold mine in Alaska--20 years. We had to take that all the way to the
U.S. Supreme Court because the Federal Government was not supporting
us. Now the Kensington mine employs over 300 people at an average wage
of $100,000 per person. Those are great jobs. We have a Federal
Government that wants to delay, delay, delay.
Let's talk about the Keystone Pipeline. We had a debate here--7 years
and counting to build a pipeline in terms of the Federal permits. Who
is hurt by this? Our friends on the other side talk a lot about the
companies and everything--TransCanada. The people who are hurt by this
are American families, middle-class workers, union members.
One of the most surprising things I saw as a freshman this year when
we were debating the override of the Keystone Pipeline--the State
Department had predicted this would create as many as 30,000 jobs.
These are good jobs--construction jobs, real jobs, real Americans
working to build something important. I was presiding in the Chair like
you, Mr. President, and some of the Members on the other side of the
aisle started arguing that these aren't real jobs because they are
temporary, that this isn't going to create 30,000 jobs because they are
temporary jobs. I about fell out of my chair. Construction jobs aren't
real jobs? Since when is that the case?
According to the President's own Small Business Administration, the
regulatory costs on small businesses in the United States are close to
$2 trillion per year. That is $15,000 per family. The bottom line is,
we know we can do better. We have to do better if we want to grow this
country and create jobs.
I believe there is a silver lining. I believe things have gotten so
bad that this delay is happening everywhere on projects that matter to
us as a nation. Projects that are so weighted down under redtape are
making Americans, regardless of party, start to take note. I have seen
a silver lining here. Both Democrats and Republicans are starting to
demand change. They are demanding bold and serious regulatory reform.
I have had conversations with Members of both sides of the aisle here
about how important this is for our economy, how important it is for
jobs. That is why this debate today on the waters of the United States
is so important.
Unfortunately, we didn't get the number of bills. We did have a
pretty strong bipartisan group. I think we would have gotten to 59--1
vote short to move forward. It is unfortunate that the other side
couldn't see the merits of this. But this rule will not help grow our
economy. This rule will continue to stifle growth. This rule will
certainly continue to kill jobs. It takes
[[Page S7711]]
what we all want--certainly, the whole idea of protecting our water,
clean water. In my State of Alaska we have the cleanest water of any
State in the country. We win awards every year for our clean, pristine
water. It is not because the EPA is making that happen; it is because
Alaskans are making that happen. But it takes the Clean Water Act and
somehow, through a rule that the EPA itself has devised, it gives the
EPA the power to regulate not major rivers but water in our backyards,
literally.
Almost certainly this rule doesn't comport with Federal law. We have
now had two courts say that. There is a stay on it nationally. The
Sixth Circuit has put a stay on this rule. Over 30 States have sued to
stop this rule--a bipartisan coalition of States--because it is almost
certainly not legal.
I asked Administrator McCarthy about the legal opinion, the legal
basis they had for this rule. I have never gotten an answer from the
EPA Administrator. I am not sure they even care. In the last two
Supreme Court terms, the EPA has lost two big cases in the U.S. Supreme
Court. They have lost the Sixth Circuit case for now. Unfortunately, we
had the Administrator of the EPA on TV a few months ago, on the eve of
this Supreme Court case--EPA vs. Michigan. When asked if she was going
to win the case, she said: We think we are going to win, but ultimately
it doesn't really matter because the companies have already had to
comply with hundreds of millions of dollars. Think about that. Think
about what she said.
This rule is going to have a huge, profound impact on my State.
Alaska has more waters under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act
than any other State in the country. Over 50 percent of America's
wetlands are located in Alaska.
I held multiple field hearings as a chairman of the subcommittee on
fisheries, water, and wildlife on the waters of the United States rule.
It is clear to me that Alaskans of vastly different backgrounds,
ideologies, and different parts of the State are opposed to this rule.
One group in my State said the rule would ``straitjacket any
development.'' Another said that it would have negative impacts on
``virtually any economic development project'' in Alaska.
One project we are very focused on in Alaska--we are having a special
session right now in our State legislature--is the Alaska LNG Project,
a very large-scale LNG project that, like TAPS, will be great for the
country and create thousands of jobs and energy security for Americans
and our allies. This rule, if left in its present form, will very
negatively impact the cost and timeline of that project.
Simply put, the waters of the United States is one of the largest
land grabs in history, and it is an example of the kind of challenges
we need to address here to get our economy moving again, to create good
jobs for Americans. It is why this debate we are having is so
important.
These are problems we can fix. We know we can fix them. Americans
sent us here to fix these problems, and we need to start by stopping
rules like the waters of the United States that undermine our country's
future and the jobs that we need throughout this country.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I see a number of Senators on the
floor. I don't know if there is an order at this point that has been
established. What is our manner of proceeding? Senator Isakson is here.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is no time agreement.
Mr. ISAKSON. I ask unanimous consent that the Chair recognize Senator
Whitehouse from Rhode Island, followed by Senator Isakson, and then
Senator Daines.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Before that matter is settled, reserving the right to
object, I will be speaking for about 15 minutes. If one of you is going
to be quicker than that, particularly significantly quicker--not 14
minutes--I would be happy to yield and let somebody go first.
Mr. ISAKSON. The Senator from Montana is going to preside at 6:30
p.m., so I think he is the one who will need to go, and I will go after
the Senator from Rhode Island.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Why doesn't the Senator from Montana proceed with his
remarks.
Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Chair
recognize the Senator from Montana, Mr. Daines, followed by Senator
Whitehouse, followed by Senator Isakson.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from Montana.
Mr. DAINES. Mr. President, today the Senate came a few votes shy of
passing legislation to protect our farmers, ranchers, and small
business owners from major new costs and regulatory burdens. I
appreciate the bipartisan support demonstrated today by four key Senate
Democrats. I have to say, I am disappointed that others chose instead
to put loyalty to President Obama before the concerns of the
constituents, the concerns of those people they represent.
Montanans know that this power grab has more to do with controlling
Montanans' land-use decisions than ensuring access to clean water as
the Clean Water Act intended. This is an ill-conceived rule that
provides the EPA unprecedented power to regulate virtually any spot
across Montana that is occasionally wet. This could have a devastating
impact on Montana jobs, on Montana's natural resources and ag
industries, and on Montanans' property rights.
Don't just take my word for it. POLITICO recently described it as
having the potential to ``give bureaucrats carte blanche to swoop in
and penalize landowners every time a cow walks through a ditch.'' The
EPA's own estimates show this rule will cost Americans between $158
million and $465 million a year.
The New York Times describes how harrowing this situation is for
Montana farmers: ``Farmers fear that the rule could impose major new
costs and burdens, requiring them to pay fees for environmental
assessments and obtain permits just to till the soil near gullies,
ditches, or dry streambeds where water flows only when it rains.''
In Montana, this rule has received a severe rebuke from our farmers,
our ranchers, and our small businesses who simply can't afford this
overreach. The Montana chamber president and CEO, Webb Brown, said:
If this rule stands, there will be tremendous cost to our
states, our economies, and our employers, and their
employees' families. Under this unprecedented extension of
federal power, land and water use decisions will be made in
Washington, D.C., far from the affected local communities.
Here is what Gene Curry of Valier, MT, from the Montana Stockgrowers
Association says: ``This rule is an unwise and unwarranted expansion of
EPA's regulatory authority over Montana's waters, and would have a
significant detrimental impact on Montana's ranchers.''
Listen to Charlie Bumgarner, president of the Montana Grain Growers.
I met with Charlie a week ago in Montana. Charlie says this: ``If
implemented, the final WOTUS rule would have a devastating impact on
grain growers across the state.''
Listen to Dustin Stewart with the Montana Homebuilders Association. I
grew up in the home building industry. My dad is a home builder. Here
is what Dustin had to say: ``The EPA's waters of the U.S. regulation is
an incurably flawed rule. . . . ''
Dave Galt, the executive director of the Montana Petroleum
Association, said:
The EPA's new water rule is an unnecessary expansion of
jurisdiction for the Federal Government. The EPA's rule will
negatively impact all land-use industries including
agriculture and energy production.
Yet, despite this broad opposition, President Obama is moving forward
with yet another out-of-touch Washington, DC, regulation. But already
two Federal courts have issued a stay on this misguided rule,
demonstrating the questionable legal ground this regulation stands on.
This is a rule issued by the same Federal Agency that has continued to
perpetuate a war on American energy. In fact, earlier this year we saw
the Supreme Court issue a severe rebuke of the EPA's mercury and air
toxic standards which would have a direct and lasting impact on our
economy in Montana. This MATS rule, just like WOTUS, is just one of the
new, burdensome regulations cooked up by the Obama administration and
[[Page S7712]]
has the potential to eliminate good-paying jobs and devastate the
livelihoods of hard-working Montana families and hard-working American
families.
Throughout my home State of Montana, we have tremendous opportunities
to develop our State's natural resources and create new jobs, and that
is a good thing. Rather than hitting pause on our energy production, we
need to encourage it. But the Obama administration is doing exactly the
opposite.
President Obama's full assault on American energy independence has
most recently resulted in TransCanada's decision to suspend its
application to build the commonsense Keystone XL Pipeline, which, by
the way, first enters Montana from Canada. This pipeline would have
created new opportunities for good-paying jobs, helped advance American
energy independence, and lowered American energy prices.
Well, the suspension on Keystone is bad news, but it is not the end
of the line. We are going to keep fighting for this job-creating
project that has the overwhelming bipartisan approval of Congress as
well as the support of the American people because America can and
America should power the world. But the Obama administration's
relentless attacks on affordable energy and good-paying union jobs, as
well as tribal jobs, through this so-called Clean Power Plan continue
to hinder innovation. Under the final so-called Clean Power Plan, the
Colstrip powerplant in Montana will likely be shuttered, putting
thousands of jobs at risk.
Our farmers, ranchers, and local business owners should be empowered
to drive local land use decisions, not a bunch of Washington, DC,
bureaucrats who can't even find Montana on a map. We can only do it if
the Obama administration steps back from its extreme overreach and
allows American innovation to thrive once again.
I look forward to casting my vote tomorrow to permanently stop this
misguided waters of the United States rule. It is time to ditch this
rule.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
Clean Power Plan
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I guess in the order proceeding here,
I am here to bring the opposing views. Every week we are here, I remind
this body of the damage carbon pollution is doing to our atmosphere and
to our oceans. I have traveled to Senator Isakson's State to see what
the University of Georgia is measuring off of Sapelo Island, and I hope
to have the chance to go west to continue this.
We have to wake up to climate change, and we have to move toward a
clean-energy economy and the jobs and innovation that support it. Clear
measurements exist of the harm that is already happening: climbing sea
levels, we measure; climbing global temperatures, we measure;
acidifying oceans, we measure.
Virtually every respected scientific and academic institution agrees
that climate change is happening and that human activities--
specifically carbon emissions--are driving it. Carbon pollution is
affecting our economy, it is affecting agriculture and wildfires, and
it is affecting storms and insurance costs.
There are so many people--doctors and health professionals, military
and security leaders, insurance and reinsurance industry folks, our
major utilities, American corporations, and our faith leaders all agree
that climate change is a serious challenge and an important priority.
Yet here, despite the growing chorus around the country calling for
climate action, we hear congressional Republicans, such as the majority
leader, claim they are here to stand up for our people by blocking the
President's Clean Power Plan.
As carbon pollution piles up in the atmosphere, who are they standing
up for? Certainly not the American people. Eighty-three percent of
Americans, including 6 in 10 Republicans, want action to reduce carbon
emissions. The Clean Power Plan delivers.
For the first time, we have a national plan to reduce carbon
pollution from the largest source of U.S. carbon emissions, which is
powerplants. The 50 dirtiest coal plants in America together emit more
carbon pollution than all of South Korea and more than all of Canada.
Are we going to do nothing about that?
Too often we hear on the Republican side folks who trumpet these
industry-backed, one-sided reports that point only to the cost of
action. They don't even measure or consider the cost of inaction. If
you were an accountant and did the books that way, you would go to
jail. Well, if you look at both sides of the ledger, the EPA shows that
the projected health benefits of the Clean Power Plan will avoid
300,000 missed work and school days, 1,700 heart attacks, 90,000 asthma
attacks, and 3,600 premature deaths every year. Every dollar invested
through the Clean Power Plan will keep up to $4 in American families'
pockets. The savings are also passed on to electricity consumers, with
the average American family projected to save almost $85 per year on
their electric bill by 2030.
I am from New England. We have the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative, RGGI, and it is proving that States grow their economies at
the same time that they cut emissions. Putting a price on carbon and
plowing that money back into clean energy products is saving us
billions of dollars and helping to reduce carbon pollution.
The EPA put the States in the driver's seat to come up with plans
that suit them. An analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists
shows that ``31 States are already on track to be more than halfway
toward meeting their 2022 Clean Power Plan benchmarks.'' These States
include both cap-and-trade States, such as California and the Northeast
RGGI States, and coal-heavy States, such as Iowa, Ohio, and Kentucky.
``We can meet it,'' says Kentucky energy and environment secretary
Leonard Peters about the plan. ``We can meet it.'' In fact, Dr. Peters
praised the EPA for working with States like Kentucky to build this
rule. ``The outreach they've done, I think, is incredible,'' he said.
The EPA had an ``open door policy. You could call them, talk to them,
meet with them.''
The Kentucky experience was echoed around the country, as EPA listens
closely to hundreds of concerns, holds hundreds of public meetings, and
the final rule includes significant adjustments to accommodate
individual State's concerns.
Even with all of this, the majority leader, the senior Senator from
Kentucky, will brook no serious conversation about climate change. We
just never have that come up as a subject. The Republican leader, in a
modern, massive resistance effort, wrote to all 50 Governors urging
defiance of Federal regulation, calling the regulations ``extremely
burdensome and costly.'' That might have been a more credible
allegation about the regulations if he had not reached it months before
the regulations were even finalized.
The Clean Power Plan, says the majority leader, is the latest battle
in a great ``War on Coal.'' He says, ``[W]e have a depression in
central Appalachia created because of the President's zeal to have an
impact worldwide on the issue of climate.'' It seems that the head of
one of his region's biggest electric utilities doesn't agree.
Appalachian Power president and CEO Charles Patton told a meeting of
energy executives last week that coal can no longer compete against
cheaper alternatives such as natural gas and wind power. Coal, he said,
will continue to decline with or without the Clean Power Plan. It has
nothing to do with the President. ``If we believe we can just change
administrations and this issue is going to go away,'' Patton said,
``we're making a terrible mistake.''
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the article titled ``Coal
not coming back, Appalachian Power president says'' and editorial
titled ``Reality check on coal, future'' be printed in the Record at
the conclusion of my remarks.
It says:
With or without the Clean Power Plan, the economics of
alternatives to fossil-based fuels are making end roads in
the utility plan, companies are making decisions today where
they are moving away from coal-fired generation. The debate
largely at this time has been lost.
Mr. Patton is not alone. In September, financial giant Goldman Sachs
released several bleak reports on the future of the global coal market.
The latest report was in September, where they drew the conclusion that
``[t]he industry does not require a new investment given the ability of
existing assets to satisfy flat demand, so prices
[[Page S7713]]
will remain under pressure as the deflationary cycle continues.'' In
plain English, market forces are driving coal's decline. I seriously
doubt that any colleague would think Goldman Sachs is a bunch of
liberal greenies who launched a war on coal. This is their clear
economic thought.
Since the clean power rule was finalized in August, the massive
resistance the majority leader sought has not ensued.
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has so far not heeded the majority
leader's call to rebel.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, the first to publicly pledge to resist
the President's plan, recently hinted that Oklahoma would submit a
compliance plan after all.
Indeed, even while West Virginia leads the multistate lawsuit against
EPA, Governor Earl Tomblin announced last week that his administration
will begin working on a compliance plan. In the heart of coal country,
in Charleston, WV, the newspaper, Gazette-Mail, praised the Governor's
move, writing on its editorial page:
It is the right thing to do--both to decrease emissions
that contribute to human-caused climate change--
Here is a newspaper in the heart of coal country conceding that
emissions contribute to human-caused climate change, and I don't know
why we can't get over that in the Senate--
and as the governor says, to make sure West Virginia's
interests are best represented in how the plan is carried
out.
They described Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell's urge to rebel
against the rule as petulant and foolish. That is from the heart of
coal country.
The coal industry, like an aging ship at sea, is taking on water.
Between the costs of old, dirty powerplants and the competitive
advantage of cheaper natural gas, coal is struggling to stay afloat. As
Mr. Patton from Appalachian Power pointed out, those circumstances have
nothing to do with whoever is sitting in the Oval office.
For States that have relied on coal for generations, the Clean Power
Plan is actually a lifeboat. It is a chance to kick-start new
industries and innovative technologies and to choose the path forward
that is best for your State and your citizens. It is a way off a
sinking ship.
Recognizing the costs of carbon pollution is another lifeboat. I know
this sounds strange to my colleagues, but please bear with me. You
can't build the carbon capture plants that could keep coal plants
operating if they are free to pollute. There is no economic value to a
carbon capture plant if it is free to pollute. The truculent insistence
on this market failure by Big Coal is ironically coal's own undoing.
Yet congressional Republicans won't engage. They waste time with the
useless Gingrich-era Congressional Review Act efforts to block carbon
pollution controls on powerplants--controls that Americans
overwhelmingly support.
Beyond that, our Republican friends simply have no plan--nothing.
There is no plan B to the President's Clean Power Plan. If you have
something else, please bring it forward. We can debate which is better,
but you can't just pretend this isn't a problem. They have no plan to
deal with climate change, no plan to help coal-reliant communities find
safe passage to a more sustainable economic future.
I ask my colleagues to please read what the CEO of Appalachian Power
said. Please take it to heart. Please read the Charleston Gazette-Mail
editorial. Please engage with us while we can still do some good
because when the market completely collapses, when there is nothing
left to do, when coal is priced out by solar and wind and natural gas
and other fuels, then it is too late to come back and say: Now we need
help. When the market has acted and someone suffers as a result, they
don't get any sympathy in this building.
Now is the time when people who want to make this a smooth transition
for coal economies need to come forward in the interests of their own
people, in the interests of their own miners who need their pensions
filled and fixed, in the interests of communities that need
transitions, in the interests of their economy.
I thank the distinguished Senator from Georgia for his patience.
I yield the floor.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Oct. 27, 2015]
Coal Not Coming Back, Appalachian Power President Says
(By David Gutman)
Roanoke.--Coal consumption is not likely to increase,
regardless of whether new federal regulations on power plants
go into effect, and, from coal's perspective, the national
debate on coal and climate change has largely been lost, the
president of West Virginia's largest electric utility told a
roomful of energy executives Tuesday.
The Clean Power Plan, the Obama administration's proposal
to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, would
cut coal consumption--but even if the regulations are
blocked, coal consumption will not increase, Appalachian
Power President Charles Patton said at the state Energy
Summit at the Stonewall Resort.
``You just can't go with new coal [plants] at this point in
time,'' Patton said. ``It is just not economically feasible
to do so.''
Patton acknowledged that entire communities, particularly
across Southern West Virginia, are being decimated by coal's
decline. However, he laid out a series of stark economic
realities.
By 2026, Patton said, Appalachian Power expects its use of
coal power to be down 26 percent, with or without the Clean
Power Plan.
That's because of cheaper alternatives and already-imposed
environmental regulations that make coal uncompetitive,
Patton said.
The cost of natural gas electricity, including construction
of power plants and infrastructure, is about $73 per megawatt
hour, Patton said. For a conventional coal plant, it's $95
per megawatt hour.
Even wind power, which is less dependable than coal, is
still significantly cheaper, at $73 per megawatt hour, when a
longstanding tax credit for wind energy production is
factored in.
An advanced coal power plant, with carbon capture and
storage to lower emissions, costs nearly twice as much, at
$144 per megawatt hour, Patton said.
``With or without the Clean Power Plan, the economics of
alternatives to fossil-based fuels are making inroads in the
utility plan,'' Patton said. ``Companies are making decisions
today where they are moving away from coal-fired
generation.''
What's more, the debate over the ``war on coal,'' which
sucks up so much of the political air in West Virginia, has
largely been settled in other states, Patton said
He said 72 percent of Americans believe the earth is
getting warmer and that man-made causes are partly
attributable. Nearly two-thirds of Americans favor stricter
emissions limits on greenhouse gases, Patton said, with even
larger majorities among young people.
``Americans believe there is a problem, and while we in
West Virginia believe that's ludicrous and we have our view
on coal, it's really important to understand, if you're not
in a coal-producing state, your affinity for coal is not
there,'' Patton said. ``The debate largely, at this point in
time, has been lost.''
Patton reminded the audience that the closest the United
States ever came to a carbon tax was the cap-and-trade bill
pushed by Sens. Joe Lieberman and John McCain. ``I don't see
John McCain as a flaming liberal,'' Patton said.
He said he opposes the Clean Power Plan and said West
Virginia should continue its lawsuit to block it. However,
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said Tuesday that West Virginia will
submit a plan to comply with the Clean Power Plan--despite
Republican calls to boycott it--while those lawsuits play
out.
Patton said the federal regulations, intended to help stave
off the worst effects of climate change, would cause a
reduction in coal use, but even defeating the regulations
won't make the push to address climate change disappear.
He urged the crowd to ``think globally'' and work to
advance cleaner-burning coal technologies.
``If we believe that we can just change administrations and
this issue is going to go away,'' Patton said, ``we're making
a terrible mistake.''
____
[From the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Oct. 30, 2015]
Gazette Editorial: Reality Check on Coal, Future
To his credit, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin says West Virginia
will participate in the federal Clean Power Plan by
submitting its own proposal for cutting greenhouse gas
emissions. He may be doing it with an air of resignation and
distaste, but then again, no one likes the fact that West
Virginians are struggling as market forces undercut an
industry that has employed generations of people.
It is the right thing to do--both to decrease emissions
that contribute to human-caused climate change, and as the
governor says, to make sure West Virginia's interests are
best represented in how the plan is carried out. States that
choose not to come up with their own plan, as Kentucky's Sen.
Mitch McConnell has petulantly and foolishly urged, will be
handed one by the federal government. Gov. Tomblin is right.
Better to have a say in how drastic changes will play out in
your own state.
Arguments against trying to head off the worst effects of
climate change are hollow.
[[Page S7714]]
Some elected officials (and their fossil fuel industry
promoters) seem to think that because China is a big
polluter, for example, the United States should just shrug
and give up. That is no way to be a world leader. That is no
way to stimulate new technological developments and
industries.
Indeed, the Clean Power Plan is part of the reason why
China has committed to limiting its own carbon dioxide
emissions. Where the United States goes, the world follows.
The War on Coal public relations campaign has been a
smashing success, convincing the most vulnerable working
people and retirees that if only they could get the nasty
federal government off their backs, all would right itself to
some vague and misty perfection, circa 1955. West Virginians,
in turn, convince their elected leaders to defend the status
quo at all costs.
Senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito are steady on
the job, clinging to the past, signing on to a resolution
that seeks to block the Clean Power Plan.
Of course, defeating efforts to further clean up the air
locally won't bring coal back. The people pushing the
campaign know it. The rest of the country knows it.
Appalachian Power CEO Charles Patton, who buys more coal
than anyone, knows it. Also speaking at the state Energy
Summit at the Stonewall Resort this week, he reiterated a
message he has shared before: Coal isn't coming back, even
without the Clean Power Plan, because of price. Coal is more
expensive than wind or natural gas, partly because of
existing environmental regulations, partly because natural
gas is so cheap.
The goal now is to manage this change, to help people into
new livelihoods and meaningful work, to minimize the
predictable suffering of families and communities. West
Virginia has wasted enough time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Daines). The Senator from Georgia.
Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I appreciate the words of the
distinguished Senator from Rhode Island, and I always enjoy his
speeches, whether I am on the floor or watching him back in my office.
He is an articulate spokesman for what he believes, which is one of the
things that make this Senate an important body. While from time to time
I differ in terms of carbon emissions because of nuclear energy, that
is part of the solution to the problems of the future, and I will speak
about that on another day.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I would be glad to speak with the
Senator from Georgia about that because he may find we agree more than
we disagree.
Mr. ISAKSON. I think we probably would, and that is why I brought it
up, and I look forward to that.
We are hear to talk about the rule for the waters of the United
States undertaken by the EPA.
When I started working this afternoon and preparing myself for what I
would say to try to make my point and express myself, I listened at 3
p.m. to the speech by Senator Ben Sasse from Nebraska. Today he made
his maiden speech on the floor of the Senate. Because I had an
important appointment to get to, I do know exactly how long he spoke.
He spoke for 27 minutes--because that is how late I was for my
appointment. But his speech was so good and so important and it
affected so much this rule of the waters of the United States that I
wanted to include it in my remarks tonight.
What Senator Sasse said very simply is this: In his 1 year in the
U.S. Senate, observing the Senate and how it operates, how we all
operate, he went back to his constituents and spoke to them. One thing
he talked about is how we are moving more and more toward the
government of an executive branch and a judicial branch and moving away
from the legislative branch. We have administrations like the current
administration which is trying to enforce the law through
administrative rules and executive orders, not through legislation. He
didn't just point out that being a Democratic situation, it is
Republican as well.
If we look over the last 35 years, there has been a growth in the
number of edicts that have come down regulatory-wise rather than
legislatively. It is important for us to return the legislative branch
of government to its appropriate place so we have a balance between
legislative, executive, and judicial.
I use the waters of the U.S.A. rule to explain to my colleagues why
that is so important. This is a horrible rule. It is a rule that is
going to be litigated in court for the next 30 to 40 years. Why?
Because the clean water bill, which is its predecessor, has been
litigated for 30 or 40 years, and eventually we have come to good water
policies--not because that is where we started, it is because that is
where we ended.
I wish to take a few experiences that I had working on the Clean
Water Act in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s to make the point of why the
waters of the United States bill is so dangerous.
The Clean Water Act passed with almost unanimous support. There was
some opposition. Almost everybody said: I can't be against clean water;
everybody wants clean water. But then there is the word ``promulgate.''
We passed a law that expressed the intent of Congress, and then we said
it is up to the agencies responsible for promulgating the laws, the
rules, and regulations necessary to carry out the intent of the law.
Therein lies the problem because agencies like the EPA start
promulgating rules which take the force and effect of the law, which
cause the wrong thing to happen.
Let me tell my colleagues what is going to happen with the waters of
the U.S.A. if it becomes a rule. We are going to give the power to the
EPA that we have given under eminent domain to cities and counties and
States in the United States. Eminent domain is the way the government
was allowed under the Constitution to take property but reimburse the
owner of the property for the damage done by the government in the
taking for road rights-of-way, sewer lines, water projects, and things
of that nature. This is a grant for eminent domain to an agency without
any requirement to compensate the person from whom they have taken the
land or restricted the use of the land.
The Presiding Officer mentioned that his father and family were in
the homebuilding industry. I was in the homebuilding industry too and
the land development industry. What we do is we add value to the land.
We add value to its resources. We improve its drainage and use of
water. But if we have a regulatory agency that makes it too expensive
to develop the land, we go out of business and the community goes out
of business because there is no new housing. The effect of the rule is
it shuts down the economy, growth, and opportunity; it doesn't add to
it.
So it is very important to understand that when somebody says ``We
are going to pass a waters of the U.S.A. rule that is going to improve
the quality of our water, and we are going to do so by delegating to
the EPA--an unelected appointment agency--the power to tell you what
you have to do,'' they are in effect saying that they are giving the
power of eminent domain to the EPA without a requirement that you as a
landowner be compensated.
The reason America is different from every other country on the face
of this Earth is because we are a nation of individual landowners. We
own our country, and we are still good stewards of our land, and we
appreciate that opportunity. In most countries around the world, people
don't have the opportunity to own the land and have private ownership.
They lease their little place in life and that is where they go.
America is different, and that is what made us different. But if we are
landowners and we come under a waters of the U.S.A. rule and the EPA
provides edicts that have the force and effect of law without the
requirement to be compensated by an unjust agency that is enforcing a
rule or regulation, we are becoming nothing better than a European
country or, worse than that, a country that no longer has the benefit
of private ownership of land.
So it is very important that we understand that the quality of water
is important, protecting our water is important, but it is a balance,
and it is a balance between the user, the landowner, and the
government. What we need to do is come together to develop policies
that are necessary to see to it that we have a good quality of water
and we have good use of our water but not a dictatorial agency in the
Federal Government given the total priority to control our land and its
use.
I love this country. I love the opportunity it has given to me and
the opportunity to serve in the U.S. Senate, to take my life
experiences and try to add to the quality of legislation we pass here.
I hope we will pass the Ernst legislation and stop the growth of the
waters of the U.S.A. rule and get everybody--all the users--to come to
the table and talk about positive ways to protect the quality of our
water and
[[Page S7715]]
the use and the management of our water but not the confiscation of our
property and the dictates of an agency rather than an elected body.
We do not need America to become a dictatorial country. We need to
continue to be a country of participation and negotiation, where
everybody at the table has a stake and where in the end we work for the
best interests of all, not just the interests of an agency or, worse
than that, a central belief within that agency.
This rule is a rule that is bad for farmers, developers, landowners,
cities, counties, water authorities, wastewater authorities, sewer
treatment plants, and anybody else who has water.
I want to read what the EPA's coverage is in this bill. It says:
The flawed rule of the EPA to regulate nearly all water
includes manmade water management systems, water that
infiltrates into the ground or moves over land, and any other
water the EPA decides has a significant nexus to downstream
water based on the use by animals, insects, birds, and on
water storage considerations.
There is no other provision in there. It includes all water. It is
the authority for EPA to regulate it.
We have a farm bureau in Georgia that came up with the right slogan.
They just simply said, after talking about the rule, after talking
about waters in the U.S.A., there is only one thing we need to do: We
need to ditch the rule.
It is time tonight for the Senate to adopt the Ernst provision, ditch
the rule, and go back to the table and pass laws that are partnership
laws between landowners, land developers, the local communities, local
city councils, local county commissions, the local States. Let's not be
a nation that edicts from the top down, but let's have solutions from
the bottom up that always protect land ownership and land distribution
and never take control of the water out of the hands of the States and
move it to Washington, DC, where there is no accountability.
Last but not least, do not give the power of eminent domain--by that
name or any other name--to the U.S. Government and take away the right
to compensate because if you do, you become no better than a third-
world nation, and it would be no good for the United States of America.
I see the majority leader has come to the floor, and I am anxious to
hear his remarks because I know his name was invoked a few moments ago,
so I will yield back my time. I am sure the majority leader would like
to speak.
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