[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 16104]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           WATER RESOURCES REFORM AND DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2013

  (Mr. STUTZMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STUTZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the legislation 
to be considered on the floor this afternoon, H.R. 3080, the Water 
Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013.
  Mr. Speaker, my amendment, ruled in order and to be considered en 
bloc, addresses an issue very important to my district in northeast 
Indiana, as well as other similarly situated districts around the 
country.
  I am proud to represent Fort Wayne, Indiana's second-largest city, 
which has more than 10 miles of levees that protect residents and 
businesses. In response to recent Army Corps of Engineers guidelines 
requiring levee devegetation, local governments across the country 
affected by this policy have made their voices heard. Unfortunately, 
this unnecessary policy will cost taxpayers in my district millions of 
dollars.
  My amendment saves the city of Fort Wayne $25 million and makes levee 
safety the highest priority while allowing the Army Corps of Engineers 
to fully examine the guidelines study authorized in the underlying 
bill.
  I thank Chairman Shuster for his assistance and look forward to 
further pursuing solutions to this issue.

                          ____________________