[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.

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