[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 168 (Wednesday, October 10, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6735-S6736]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                S. 3021

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, later this morning, the Senate will 
vote to deliver the most substantial infrastructure legislation yet 
considered by this Congress to communities across America.
  Yesterday, I spoke about President Trump's challenge to improve our 
Nation's infrastructure, and I laid out how America's Water 
Infrastructure Act will represent a major step toward meeting that 
challenge nationwide. This comprehensive legislation meets all sorts of 
pressing needs unique to different corners of our country--from dams, 
levees, and flood control, to safer drinking water and sewage systems.
  There are national issues at stake, such as the ability of American 
producers and manufacturers to access markets around the world, but the 
questions at stake are also very local. By way of example, I would like 
to highlight just a few of the ways this legislation will have a direct 
impact on communities in my home State of Kentucky.
  First, the bill before us includes a measure that will protect 
property owners from paying thousands of dollars in fees to fix 
decades-old surveying mistakes by the Army Corps of Engineers. This is 
a critical issue for Kentucky's Rough River community, where the Army 
Corps' own errors threatened to stick local landowners with a steep 
bill. I was pleased to lead the charge in crafting a commonsense 
solution to prevent this Kentucky community from paying a financial 
price for government mistakes.
  This legislation also halts the imposition of burdensome fees on 
water use in Lake Cumberland, and it extends my Freedom to Fish Act for 
5 years by barring the Army Corps from prohibiting fishing in the 
tailwaters of Barkley and Wolf Creek Dam. For so many communities in my 
State, fishing is both a hobby and a way of life. This is not an area 
where the Federal Government needs to jump in between Americans and 
their own backyards. We had to pare back this regulatory overreach. 
This legislation does exactly that.
  Here is one more example. In States like Kentucky where waterways 
play such a pivotal economic role, it is also crucial that the Army 
Corps be equipped to demolish defunct parts of our waterways 
infrastructure that now stand in the way of progress. These efforts 
will allow communities along Kentucky's Green and Barren Rivers to make 
these waterways healthier, safer, and more attractive for outdoor 
recreation.
  I am proud this legislation authorizes these important steps forward.
  This is the beauty of America's waterways. It is a national issue, 
but it touches local communities across the country in very direct and 
specific ways.
  I am proud of the ways this legislation will help Kentucky. I know 
each of my colleagues knows just as many ways this bill will impact 
their own State for the better. That is underscored by last night's 
overwhelming bipartisan vote of 96 to 3. I look forward to a similar 
bipartisan vote later this morning to send this significant 
infrastructure bill to the President's desk for signature into law.

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