[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4322]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            WATER RESOURCES

  (Mr. GIBBS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. GIBBS. Mr. Speaker, this week I spoke to a group of civil 
engineers, local water utility managers, and others involved in the 
water infrastructure industry at their 2016 Water Week Conference.
  While roads and bridges and airports and train tracks get a lot of 
attention, water infrastructure is just as critical to the health of 
our Nation's economy. Water transportation is the safest and most fuel-
efficient, least polluting, and least expensive means of moving goods.
  The public and private sectors must work together to deliver safe and 
affordable water to millions of Americans every day.
  In 2014, we wrote a landmark Water Resources Reform and Development 
Act, which was signed into law. It reformed the way the Army Corps of 
Engineers studies and completes their projects; it shortened the nearly 
endless study and environmental review process; and, most importantly, 
it included no earmarks.
  Our economy cannot afford to see the locks and dams of our Nation's 
inland waterways system fail, preventing cargo from reaching its 
destination. Our agriculture and energy industries depend on open and 
secure water transportation systems, and we hope to accomplish that in 
WRRDA 2016.

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