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Ms. KAPTUR. I rise today on behalf of the esteemed gentleman from North Carolina, Representative Mike McIntyre, who represents a district inclusive of the southeastern coast of North Carolina. Congressman McIntyre is, unfortunately, unable to come to the floor tonight, so I rise on his behalf to offer the following amendment.
This amendment will prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from using funds to terminate or plan to terminate any 50-year coastal storm damage reduction project. The language in this amendment will give Congress and the Corps needed time to determine proper evaluation procedures.
Coastal storm damage reduction projects were created by Congress to keep coastal communities safe and, over time, to save taxpayer dollars from repeated damage costs. These projects involve Federal-State partnerships where the communities assume the Federal Government will meet the commitment we have established through the Army Corps of Engineers.
Obviously, coastal regions across our country have varying needs. The Seventh Congressional District of North Carolina is coastally different than Ohio's Ninth Congressional District along Lake Erie, which I represent. But the more than 100 miles of Ohio coastline that are in the Ninth District have seen important improvements for flood protection and shoreline improvement installations over the years that have proven themselves to be cost effective. In particular, two of these in Point Place and Maumee Bay have both performed better than even the Army Corps of Engineers analysis originally predicted. As a result of these completed projects, coastal communities in our region have been protected from costly and previously unmanageable storm water damage.
In today's energy and water legislation, I ask on behalf of Mr. McIntyre and myself that Congress give communities affected by this amendment the same chance. On behalf of Congressman McIntyre, I appreciate the respected chairman and ranking member of the Energy and Water Subcommittee, Mr. Frelinghuysen and Mr. Visclosky, for their willingness to work collaboratively on these issues. These projects are proven successes, and the demonstrated need warrants a continuation of these cost-conscious investments that improve the safety of our coastal communities.
I yield back the balance of my time.
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