Water Resources Development Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, this is a good amendment that I support.

It authorizes, as my colleague explained, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Mr. Joyce has championed this bill and worked very hard, as has Ms. Kaptur, on this important issue.

In fact, the GLRI bill passed through the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and passed the House by a voice vote, so I firmly stand behind Mr. Joyce's amendment. I support it and would urge all my colleagues to support the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I will say my piece if I could. It is with a heavy heart that I come to the House floor today. My mother passed away early this morning, Pat Shuster--Patricia Shuster. I want to thank all my colleagues for their condolences and kind words.

Some may wonder why am I here today. Well, it is what my mother would have wanted. In fact, she would have insisted that I do my job and finish my work. So I know my mother is smiling down on me today.

Mom, my work is almost done. I love you and will miss you forever.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. SHUSTER. I thank the gentleman and recognize that this is an important issue to him and his constituents back home in Michigan. In 2016, no one, no one should be afraid to drink the water that comes out of their tap. That is something I think we all can agree on. It is in that spirit that I have committed to working together as we bridge the differences between the two Chambers that these bills will ensure a mutually agreeable solution. I am committed to getting this vital infrastructure bill to the President's desk. I look forward to working with the gentleman and those on the other side of the aisle to move this forward.

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman is correct. We are going to stand up and say that the Corps of Engineers and the non-Federal sponsor have made it clear that it is not responsible for constructing baseball fields, basketball courts, and soccer fields. Not only has the Corps said to us that it is not included in this--they have confirmed, and they have reconfirmed--but, in fact, an independent board did a cost-benefit analysis on this. An independent board did one. This motion simply stops the forward motion of this bill.

When I became chairman, I committed to making sure that, in every Congress, we would pass a WRDA bill and get back to regular order like we used to do, but there was a 7-year gap; so here, today, we have a bill. It is not perfect by any means, but it is a good bill.

I look around this Chamber, and there are Members here who have projects in this that are important to their districts and that are important to their States. Most importantly, it is important to the Nation that we move this bill forward. If we delay on this bill, we are going to delay these jobs. This is a critical bill for us. It does some very, very good things. There are good benefits in here.

First, it reasserts congressional authority by restoring the 2-year cycle to WRDA. It restores congressional authority. That means we in this House and in the Senate--in Congress--get to tell the administration what they are going to do. We are not going to sit here and have them direct us and say this is what we will do. We don't know who those faceless, nameless bureaucrats are, and I am tired of that. I will not let that happen on my watch. There is a return to regular order. As I said, there are unelected bureaucrats making those decisions for us.

Secondly, it is fiscally responsible. We authorize over $9 billion in projects, but we de-authorize. We have taken it, and we have balanced it out so it is fiscally responsible.

Finally, it keeps American jobs in America by strengthening our competitiveness--not Republican and Democratic jobs, American jobs. In each Member's district and in each Member's State, this bill is going to help America be competitive so that our goods and products can go out of these ports efficiently to world markets and so they can come in and get on our store shelves efficiently and save Americans money.
This is an important economic development bill for this Nation. Let's get this bill done. Let's get into conversations with the Senate, and let's get this on the President's desk. Let's help strengthen America.

I urge a ``no'' vote on this.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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