Date: 2009-07-15
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank my friend. the gentlewoman from California for the time. and I yield myself as much time as I may consume. The underlying legislation. the EnergyWater Appropriations Act. provides over $33.2 billion in funding for critical water projects. It helps to develop a cleaner. more dependable energy sector that is less dependent on unreliable sources of foreign energy. It also supports our national defense system by funding critical weapons and nonproliferation programs. The Water Resources Development Act of 2007. known as WRDA. authorized the deepening of the Miami Harbor to a depth of 50 feet. The underlying legislation follows up on that authorization with $600.000 for the planning of the dredging project. Reaching a depth of 50 feet by the time that the Panama Canal expansion is completed in 2014 is of both local and national importance. Once the Panama Canal expansion is complete. a new class of supercargo carriers will be able to traverse the canal and will be looking for new deepwater ports to unload their cargo. However. there are very few ports in the United States ready to handle those carriers. Once Miami reaches the 50foot depth mark. it will be the closest U.S. port to the Panama Canal that can handle the carriers and will serve as a vital entry point for international trade in and out of the United States. The ability of the Port of Miami to accommodate those carriers will double the amount of cargo the port is able to handle and will serve to cement Miamis position as the trade capital of the Americas. It will also create numerous highpaying jobs. and it will have an extraordinary impact. obviously. on the local economy. The Florida Everglades is a great national treasure. The Everglades combination of abundant moisture. rich soils and subtropical temperatures traditionally supported a vast array of species. Flood control and reclamation efforts in the 1940s and the 1950s manipulated the Everglades hydrology. redirecting fresh water destined for the Everglades out to sea. Its ecosystem was also harmed by degraded water quality. Pollutants from urban areas and agricultural runoff. including pesticides and excess nutrients. have harmed plant and animal populations. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. which I strongly support. will capture fresh water destined for the sea. the lifeblood of the Everglades. and direct it back to the ecosystem to revitalize it. At the same time the project will also improve water supplies. provide flood control for South Florida and protect wildlife. My colleagues in the South Florida delegation and I have worked closely with appropriators to secure funding for this important project. Im thankful to my colleagues. and I am pleased the Appropriations Committee agreed on the importance of this project by appropriating $210 million. I would like to thank Chairman PASTOR and Ranking Member FRELINGHUYSEN for their bipartisan work on the important underlying legislation that were bringing to the floor today. While I support the underlying legislation. I must oppose the rule by which the majority is bringing this bill to the floor. Last month the majority set a dangerous precedent to limit debate on appropriations bills. debate that. historically. was almost always considered under an open rule. an open process of debate. Today. Mr. Speaker. we are set to consider the eighth of 12 appropriations bills. and every bill considered so far has been considered under a structured rule that severely limits the ability of Members from both sides of the aisle to bring amendments to the floor for debate and for a vote and is not in the usual open procedure which allows every Member to offer their amendments. During last weeks Rules Committee hearing on the State and Foreign Operations appropriations bill. the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee. Mr. LEWIS. testified that there was still time to undo the majoritys new precedent. restricting the ability of Members to offer amendments to appropriation bills. Mr. LEWIS asked the majority to reconsider the use of structured rules on appropriations bills. to return to regular order. to historical order. to the tradition of an open debate process on appropriations bills. He even offered his services to persuade Members to not offer dilatory amendments. which would hamper the ability of Congress to complete its appropriations work on time. something that both the majority and the minority wish to accomplish. Ranking Member DREIER of the Rules Committee and I also offered to help Ranking Member LEWIS rein in any Members who wished to unnecessarily prolong the debate process. I really hoped that the majority on the Rules Committee would heed