[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8505]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        WATERS OF THE U.S. RULE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Iowa 
(Mr. Young) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. YOUNG of Iowa. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in opposition 
to the recently finalized waters of the U.S. rule.
  Documents show that the EPA crafted the waters of the U.S. rule 
behind closed doors, leaving no seat at the table for farmers, business 
leaders, county and State officials, homebuilders, livestock producers, 
ranchers, and many others who are concerned by this Federal overreach, 
and it affects their lives.
  Everybody wants clean water--let's all be on the record for that--but 
we need to respect this process. Stakeholders should have been 
consulted. The people whose lives are affected by this rule should have 
been consulted. The EPA's final rule is flawed, and despite attempts by 
Congress, it is not an improvement over the proposed rule.
  The rule still requires farmers and ranchers to get permits for 
activities on their own land. On their own land. The rule still expands 
the waters under the EPA's jurisdiction. The rule still hurts 
manufacturers and States and counties looking to expand economic 
development projects and looking to expand opportunity.
  This rule remains flawed and should be thrown out. I urge Members of 
Congress to support efforts to stop this job-killing, farm-killing rule 
that invites lawsuits instead of real solutions. I urge my colleagues 
in the House and Senate to support efforts to create a new rule that 
will truly improve water quality for all Americans and put stakeholders 
in the process and respect private property.

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