Providing for Congressional Disapproval of a Rule Submitted by the Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Proctection Agency

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. President, today the Senate came a few votes shy of passing legislation to protect our farmers, ranchers, and small business owners from major new costs and regulatory burdens. I appreciate the bipartisan support demonstrated today by four key Senate Democrats. I have to say, I am disappointed that others chose instead to put loyalty to President Obama before the concerns of the constituents, the concerns of those people they represent.

Montanans know that this power grab has more to do with controlling Montanans' land-use decisions than ensuring access to clean water as the Clean Water Act intended. This is an ill-conceived rule that provides the EPA unprecedented power to regulate virtually any spot across Montana that is occasionally wet. This could have a devastating impact on Montana jobs, on Montana's natural resources and ag industries, and on Montanans' property rights.

Don't just take my word for it. POLITICO recently described it as having the potential to ``give bureaucrats carte blanche to swoop in and penalize landowners every time a cow walks through a ditch.'' The EPA's own estimates show this rule will cost Americans between $158 million and $465 million a year.

The New York Times describes how harrowing this situation is for Montana farmers: ``Farmers fear that the rule could impose major new costs and burdens, requiring them to pay fees for environmental assessments and obtain permits just to till the soil near gullies, ditches, or dry streambeds where water flows only when it rains.''

In Montana, this rule has received a severe rebuke from our farmers, our ranchers, and our small businesses who simply can't afford this overreach. The Montana chamber president and CEO, Webb Brown, said:

If this rule stands, there will be tremendous cost to our states, our economies, and our employers, and their employees' families. Under this unprecedented extension of federal power, land and water use decisions will be made in Washington, D.C., far from the affected local communities.

Here is what Gene Curry of Valier, MT, from the Montana Stockgrowers Association says: ``This rule is an unwise and unwarranted expansion of EPA's regulatory authority over Montana's waters, and would have a significant detrimental impact on Montana's ranchers.''

Listen to Charlie Bumgarner, president of the Montana Grain Growers. I met with Charlie a week ago in Montana. Charlie says this: ``If implemented, the final WOTUS rule would have a devastating impact on grain growers across the state.''

Listen to Dustin Stewart with the Montana Homebuilders Association. I grew up in the home building industry. My dad is a home builder. Here is what Dustin had to say:

``The EPA's waters of the U.S. regulation is an incurably flawed rule. ..... ''

Dave Galt, the executive director of the Montana Petroleum Association, said:

The EPA's new water rule is an unnecessary expansion of jurisdiction for the Federal Government. The EPA's rule will negatively impact all land-use industries including agriculture and energy production.

Yet, despite this broad opposition, President Obama is moving forward with yet another out-of-touch Washington, DC, regulation. But already two Federal courts have issued a stay on this misguided rule, demonstrating the questionable legal ground this regulation stands on. This is a rule issued by the same Federal Agency that has continued to perpetuate a war on American energy. In fact, earlier this year we saw the Supreme Court issue a severe rebuke of the EPA's mercury and air toxic standards which would have a direct and lasting impact on our economy in Montana. This MATS rule, just like WOTUS, is just one of the new, burdensome regulations cooked up by the Obama administration and has the potential to eliminate good-paying jobs and devastate the livelihoods of hard-working Montana families and hard-working American families.

Throughout my home State of Montana, we have tremendous opportunities to develop our State's natural resources and create new jobs, and that is a good thing. Rather than hitting pause on our energy production, we need to encourage it. But the Obama administration is doing exactly the opposite.

President Obama's full assault on American energy independence has most recently resulted in TransCanada's decision to suspend its application to build the commonsense Keystone XL Pipeline, which, by the way, first enters Montana from Canada. This pipeline would have created new opportunities for good-paying jobs, helped advance American energy independence, and lowered American energy prices.

Well, the suspension on Keystone is bad news, but it is not the end of the line. We are going to keep fighting for this job-creating project that has the overwhelming bipartisan approval of Congress as well as the support of the American people because America can and America should power the world. But the Obama administration's relentless attacks on affordable energy and good-paying union jobs, as well as tribal jobs, through this so-called Clean Power Plan continue to hinder innovation. Under the final so-called Clean Power Plan, the Colstrip powerplant in Montana will likely be shuttered, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

Our farmers, ranchers, and local business owners should be empowered to drive local land use decisions, not a bunch of Washington, DC, bureaucrats who can't even find Montana on a map. We can only do it if the Obama administration steps back from its extreme overreach and allows American innovation to thrive once again.

I look forward to casting my vote tomorrow to permanently stop this misguided waters of the United States rule. It is time to ditch this rule.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source