[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 104 (Thursday, June 21, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4350-S4351]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3066. Mr. McCONNELL (for Mr. Rubio (for himself and Mr. Nelson)) 
proposed an amendment to amendment SA 2910 proposed by Mr. Shelby to 
the bill H.R. 5895, making appropriations for energy and water 
development and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 
30, 2019, and for other purposes; as follows:

       At the end of title I of division A, add the following:
       Sec. 1__. (a) Congress finds that--
       (1) the restoration of the Everglades, as described in the 
     Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan authorized by title 
     VI of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (Public Law 
     106-541; 114 Stat. 2680) (referred to in this section as the 
     ``Plan''), is the most ambitious environmental restoration 
     program in history;
       (2) the overarching objectives of the Plan are the 
     restoration, preservation, and protection of the south 
     Florida ecosystem, while providing for other water-related 
     needs of the region, including water supply and flood 
     protection;
       (3) the Plan should continue to be implemented as 
     authorized--
       (A) to ensure--
       (i) the protection of water quality in the south Florida 
     ecosystem;
       (ii) the reduction of the loss of fresh water from the 
     south Florida ecosystem; and
       (iii) the improvement of the environment of the south 
     Florida ecosystem; and
       (B) to achieve and maintain the benefits to the natural 
     system and human environment described in the Plan; and

[[Page S4351]]

       (4) the equal partnership between the Federal Government 
     and the State of Florida remains essential to accomplishing 
     the objectives of the Plan.
       (b) It is the sense of the Congress that--
       (1) the discharge of excess water by the Corps of Engineers 
     from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee Estuary and the 
     Indian River Lagoon represents a significant loss of fresh 
     water from the South Florida ecosystem;
       (2) the diversion of those Lake Okeechobee discharges to 
     Plan projects or features like the Everglades Agricultural 
     Area Storage Reservoir, designed to store and treat water 
     prior to release into the Central Everglades, is an essential 
     source of fresh water for meeting the objectives of the Plan; 
     and
       (3) the Plan authorizes a 50/50 Federal-State cost share 
     for all aspects of congressionally authorized restoration 
     projects, including water quality project features or 
     components.
                                 ______