[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6881-6882]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT

  Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, I think the Senator from New York is 
pointing out an issue Senator Vitter and I agree with, which is that we 
should have had a vote on the Landrieu-Vitter amendment, which would 
have definitely moved in the direction of ensuring that people's 
insurance rates for flood protection do not go through the roof.
  It was very disappointing that the Senator from Pennsylvania Mr. 
Toomey opposed having even a vote on this. But you know what, we will 
have other days in the Sun, I say to my friend, where we will deal with 
this issue because it is too important to too many people across the 
Nation.
  But I do not want that to dim what just happened in the Senate. I do 
not want the fact that there was one disappointment to take away from 
what just happened in the Senate. What just happened is that 83 
colleagues--83 strong--voted for the Water Resources Development Act 
that came out of the Environment and Public Works Committee with a very 
strong unanimous vote and that Senator Vitter and I, working together 
for the first time on a big bill such as this, were able to put aside 
other differences and come together in an area where we both agree; 
that is, it is essential to have a strong infrastructure in the 
greatest Nation in the world and in our States. It is essential that 
people not be worried that bridges will fall; that they will not have 
good roads; that they will not have their ports deepened so they can 
accept these big ships that go in and out; that they will be vulnerable 
to flooding; and that they will not be able to restore wetlands, which 
are so critical to preventing floods.
  This bill is so critical to the infrastructure and to the 
environment. Anyone who has been to the Everglades knows how critical 
it is to make sure the Everglades remain. It is a gift from God, and we 
have the responsibility. Anyone who knows the Chesapeake Bay knows how 
important it is to ensure it is healthy. We do that in this bill. And 
we do our best to ensure that the types of flooding we saw in Katrina 
will be minimized. We made many, many reforms, and I feel good about 
them.
  I really have to say that without the staff, none of this would be 
possible. Senator Vitter and I are so blessed to have the kinds of 
staffs we have. They are dedicated. The hours they work have no bounds. 
The other night we were talking at 11 o'clock. My staff was there. This 
type of a bill is not easy to get through because every State has its 
own needs, every State has its own challenges, every State has its own 
problems. We were able, because of our staffs working endlessly, to 
meet the needs, I believe, of the whole country, and that is why we 
have votes from the entire country. We have votes from so many States 
because this bill is truly reflective of the needs of our communities.
  I want to say to Bettina Poirier, my chief of staff and chief 
counsel, you certainly know how to get a bill through. You certainly 
know how to manage a staff. And you certainly have made wise decisions 
in terms of your staff. We have Jason Albritton and Ted Illston and 
Tyler Rushforth and David Napoliello and Andrew Dohrmann.
  These are only 1, 2, 3, 4, 5--6 names that I mentioned, and they 
handled this bill from, essentially, 100 different Senators pounding on 
their doors, including this Senator, saying: What and why and how? And 
you answered it.
  I also want to close by thanking some other wonderful staffers of 
Senator Reid: Gary Myrick, Tim Mitchell, Bill Dauster, Alex McDonough, 
and, I have to say, Tyler Kruzich of the Budget Committee, who helped 
us, and Reema Dodin, who came in and really helped us make sure we had 
the votes when we needed the votes.
  And I am going to make one thank-you. I know Senator Vitter is going 
to name his staff. I am not going to mention their names, but he speaks 
for me when he thanks them. But there is one person, and that is Neil 
Chatterjee, and I hope I do not ruin his career by thanking him. He 
works for Senator McConnell. He helped us greatly just to know the lay 
of the land. He said: This is where we have problems. This is where we 
can come together.
  And I will tell you something. Managing these bills, you just need to 
know how you stand, and you need to know where you are. So having the 
support of both Senator Reid and Senator McConnell and their staffs has 
made our world a lot easier.
  So we say to the House: This is your chance. Step to the plate. I 
know Chairman Shuster over there really wants a bill. We stand ready to 
work with him. I think our bill provides a roadmap.
  With that, I want to again say to Senator Vitter, it has been 
terrific to work with him, and I look forward to continuing our 
collaboration anytime and anyplace we can come together.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Mr. VITTER. Madam President, I stand to echo all of those thoughts.
  Let me start with a lot of overdue thanks. First of all, let me thank 
a great partner in Chairman Boxer. As she said many times, we do not 
agree about a lot, including important issues within the jurisdiction 
of our committee, but we can come together constructively, really 
productively, on the infrastructure side of our committee--both highway 
infrastructure and water infrastructure. And that is what we wanted to 
do from the very beginning on this bill.
  The crucial element to any success is the will and the determination 
to do it. We both had that, but I really thank her for her leadership 
in that regard and being a great partner.
  I certainly echo all of her thoughts about the staff work. I am 
deeply indebted to all of the staff work, particularly on my side, that 
went into this bill. The chair and I personally dealt

[[Page 6882]]

with probably a couple dozen issues and semicrises that would crop up 
over time.
  But if we did that with a couple of dozen, our staffs did that with 
hundreds and solved those problems to the satisfaction of a huge number 
of Members. That was reflected in the vote. I thank both staffs, but I 
am particularly indebted to my staff for all of that hard work, 
particularly Zak Baig, Charles Brittingham, Chris Tomassi, Sarah 
Veatch, Rebecca Louviere, Jill Landry, Luke Bolar, and Cheyenne Steel. 
They all put in enormous hours--of course, Charles much more than 
anyone else, but they all put in enormous hours. I thank them for their 
excellent work.
  I also want to emphasize what a positive bill this is. I talked a few 
minutes ago, right before the vote, about the strengths of the bill 
from a national point of view: jobs, waterborne commerce, reform of the 
Corps of Engineers. This bill is also very important for my home State 
of Louisiana. I just want to underscore that in closing.
  In three areas it is particularly important. First of all, we have a 
lot of important flood control, hurricane protection projects. This 
bill moves a number of those projects forward in a crucial way; 
projects such as the Louisiana Coastal Area Ecosystem Project, Morganza 
to the Gulf, which is vitally important to the protection of Lafourche 
and Terrebonne Parishes and surrounding areas, also the West Shore 
Hurricane Protection Project. That is right in the middle of where 
Hurricane Isaac hit. We need to get that done. It is now moving 
forward, the Southwest Louisiana Coastal Hurricane Protection Study.
  Finally, although it is not as far along, there is very important 
work with regard to Saint Tammany and other coastal parishes achieving 
flood protection, including a barrier at the lake or near Lake 
Pontchartrain for Saint Tammany. That concept will move forward because 
of this bill.
  The second big category in the bill is Corps of Engineers reform and 
accountability. Those of us who lived through Hurricane Katrina saw 
some of the best and, unfortunately, some of the worst of what the 
Federal Government has to offer. On the side that needs improvement, we 
need streamlining and reform at certain agencies, including the Corps 
of Engineers.
  This bill brings that reform to the Corps of Engineers in a number of 
important areas, such as the proposal Senator Nelson of Florida and I 
have. It also streamlines and expedites the process, particularly with 
regard to environmental review. That is very important.
  Third, and finally, this bill advances waterborne commerce by 
dredging our harbors and ports and rivers, and getting that work done, 
which is vital, which is necessary, if marathon commerce is going to 
move forward and help drive the engine of our economy. We have major 
reforms in this bill with regard to the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, 
major reforms in the bill with regard to the Inland Waterway Trust 
Fund, dredging what we need to dredge, moving forward on key harbors 
and ports and waterways. That is important for our Louisiana maritime 
sector, which is a big part of the national economy.
  So there are a lot of positives to this bill. That is why I was proud 
to help develop it and support it. That is why I am very pleased today 
that it got overwhelming bipartisan support.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.

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