Date: 2006-12-05
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I support the passage of H.R. 6316. This bill extends through December 3.1. 2008. the authority of the Secretary of the Army to accept and expend funds contributed by nonFederal public entities to process permits under the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbor Act of 1899. The current authority for this program expires on December 31 of this year. The program is popular and wellreceived. particularly in the northwest part of the country. I congratulate my committee colleague Mr. BAIRD for his attention to this issue and for securing todays consideration of this bill. I can think of no other Member who has served his local or regional issues with more enthusiasm and effectiveness. The language in H.R.. 6316 is similar to the two previous extensions of this program which passed the House September 20. 2005. and March 14. 2006. Both of these votes to extend the program received strong support from the House. The language in this legislation is hodeled after the language contained .in H.R. 2864. the Water Resources Development Act of 2005. which passed this House on July 14. 2005. by an overwhelming vote of 40614. While my preference would be to address the extension of this program through passage of the broader Water Resources Development Act. at this later hour in the session it seems increasingly unlikely that work can be completed on the larger bill. This really is unfortunate because it only further delays the opportunity for the Corps of Engineers to provide essential flood control. navigation and ecosystem restoration projects to our Nation and vital public safety and economic benefits to our constituents. We are now just .one week shy of 6 years since the last water resources bill was enacted. and this is really far too long. I am certain that there will be questions as to why Congress was unable to enact a water resources bill in the 109th Congress. especially since this is the first time since 2000 that both the House and Senate Chambers were able to approve legislation for the other body to consider. However. in spite of this significant achievement and roughly 5 months of staff negotiations towards a conference agreement. the fact remains that no agreement has been reached. and we are days away from the adjournment and facing one more year without a water resources bill. Mr. Speaker. the current administration has no commitment to the Nations premier waterrelated infrastructure agencies. This administration fails to understand the importance of the Corps of Engineers and the vital work that this agency does for the American people. E 1100 The administrations lack of support for a comprehensive Water Resources Development Act has only made Congresss work more difficult. During the consideration in both the House and Senate. the administration released two statements of administration policy that were highly critical of the Congresss efforts. especially of the .administrations concern with the overall cost of two bills. However. what the administration fails to recognize is that the roughly $10 billion project authorizations contained in this Housepassed version and the $12 billion in the Senatepassed version reflect 6 years of requests since the Water Resources Development Act of 2000. Should Congress fail to approve this Water Resources Development Act this year. -we should expect that next years. bill will cost more than both the House and Senate versions. perhaps as much as $15 billion. However. the Department of Transportation predicted it would be $19 billion this year. These numbers are consistent with the historical costs of past water resources bills. and further delay only results in making these vital projects more expensive over time. Yet Congress must also share the blarpe for its failure to deliver a comprehensive water resources bill this year. With both the House and Senate and the White House under Republican control. it would seem that passage of this legislation would have been achievable. In spite of these significant efforts of both the chairman of the conference committee and my chairman. Mr. YOUNG. the House and Senate has been unable to reach agreement on a final package. I am confident that our committee. under the leadership of our incoming chairman. Mr. OBERSTAR. will make the passage and enactment of the Water Resources Development Act a number one priority in 2007. Mr. Speaker. I urge support of this bill and reserve the balance of my time.