[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12] [Senate] [Pages 16974-16975] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]FEDERAL WATER QUALITY PROTECTION BILL Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, two Federal courts have already found that the Obama administration's plan to regulate the land around nearly every pothole and ditch is illegal. It is hardly a surprise. The administration's so-called waters of the United States regulation is a cynical and overbearing power grab dressed awkwardly as some clean water measure. It is not. Many argue it actually violates the Clean Water Act. The true aim of this massive regulatory overreach is pretty clear. After all, if you are looking for an excuse to extend the reach of the Federal bureaucracy as widely and intrusively as possible, why not just issue a regulation giving bureaucrats dominion over land that has touched a pothole or a ditch or a puddle at some point? That would seem to be pretty much everything, and that is why the waters of the United States regulation is so worrying. It would force Americans who live near potholes and ditches and puddles to ask bureaucrats for permission to do just about anything on their own property. Want to spray some weeds? Fill out a permit. Want to put a small pond in your back yard? Ask Uncle Sam. Want to build a barn or just about anything else on the land you own? Good luck getting approval from the Feds on that. One court said that this regulation was so ridiculous it had to be the result ``of a process that is inexplicable, arbitrary, and devoid of a reasoned process.'' That sounds about right. It certainly wasn't a process that appropriately involved the untold number of stakeholders sure to be affected by such a wide-ranging regulation. Let me read you something I received from a constituent in West Liberty, KY. Here is what he wrote: I'm disappointed [that] small businesses like mine were not considered in this rule making process. Government regulations, like the proposed rule, are complicated, expensive to navigate and a real obstacle to growing my business. This change, and its ridiculous overreach and restrictions could decrease land value and hinder my ability to expand, develop and use my own private land. ``Please,'' he said, ``support S. 1140, the Federal Water Quality Protection Act.'' I have good news for this Kentuckian and for the many Americans who feel the same way. I do support the Federal Water Quality Protection Act. I actually worked with Senator Barrasso to introduce it and will take a vote to move the bipartisan bill forward this afternoon. A bipartisan majority of the Senate supports the Federal Water Quality Protection Act. What it says is pretty simple. If the administration is actually serious about protecting waterways and not just cynically using this regulation as a ploy to extend the bureaucracy's reach, then it should follow the proper process to get to a balanced outcome. It should appropriately consult with the Americans who would be the most affected by the regulation, especially farmers, ranchers, and small businesses, not to mention the homebuilders, manufacturers, mine operators, and utility providers that would be particularly impacted in my State. It should appropriately consult with the States. It should actually conduct the regulatory impact analyses required of it. In short, what this bipartisan bill would do is require the administration to actually follow the balanced approach it should have followed in the first place. It is commonsense, bipartisan legislation that would protect our waterways while protecting the American people from a heavy-handed regulation that threatens their property rights and their very livelihoods. A similar bill has already passed the House with bipartisan support. Americans in places like Eastern Kentucky have suffered enough from this administration's regulatory onslaught already. This latest regulation threatens to turn the screws even tighter for almost no benefit at all. I call on every colleague to join me in standing up for the middle class instead of defending cynical, job-crushing regulations. I ask them to join me in supporting the bipartisan Federal Water Quality Protection Act this afternoon. I thank my colleague from Iowa for her hard work on this issue. She has introduced a measure that would allow Congress to overturn this massive regulation in its entirety. It is another avenue the Senate can pursue as we seek to protect the middle class from this unfair regulatory attack. I know the Senator from Iowa is actually with us on the floor right now. She is here for a different reason, which is the subject that I am turning to right now. [[Page 16975]] ____________________