[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES

  (Mrs. ROBY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, this week we are again taking important and 
long-awaited action on behalf of farmers, foresters, and anyone who 
owns land by sending to the President's desk a joint resolution ending 
the aggressive overreach by the Environmental Protection Agency into 
private lands.
  S.J. Res. 22 is a joint resolution with the U.S. Senate to end the 
EPA's ridiculous waters of the United States rule seeking to expand the 
definition of ``navigable waters'' to include puddles, ditches, and 
other small bodies of water, making them subject to inspection.
  Of course, we all want to ensure that rules are followed to keep our 
waters clean, but making puddles and ditches subject to inspection just 
to expand the reach of Federal regulators has nothing to do with clean 
water.
  Mr. Speaker, you might recall that the House voted to put a stop to 
the waters of the U.S. rule last year, and the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court 
of Appeals granted a nationwide stay on the rule. However, this joint 
resolution is the measure we needed to finally send this bill to the 
President and put the responsibility for this harmful rule on him.
  I will continue to fight against this radical environmental agenda 
being forced on Americans by this administration through executive 
overreach. The Congress is right to take steps to stop it.

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