Rep. Davis Applauds Committee Approval of WRRDA

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) today applauded the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for overwhelmingly approving bipartisan legislation, the Water Resources Reform & Development Act of 2013 (WRRDA), to improve our nation's water infrastructure.

"This is the first WRDA bill approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee since 2007, a process that is supposed to occur every two years, so this was long overdue," said Davis. "The bottom line is that this is a strong, bipartisan jobs bill. WRRDA will streamline Army Corps of Engineer projects from a 15 year, or longer, process, to a three year process and contains no earmarks while establishing a new, transparent process to evaluate and prioritize water studies and projects."

Davis is a cosponsor of H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2013 (WRRDA), which was introduced in the House by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), Committee Ranking Member Nick J. Rahall, II (D-W. Va.), Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), and Subcommittee Ranking Member Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.).

Through WRRDA, Congress authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to carry out its missions to develop, maintain, and support the Nation's vital port and waterways infrastructure needs, and support effective and targeted flood protection and environmental restoration needs.

Included in the legislation is language authored by Davis and U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) that authorizes the creation of a pilot program that would allow the Army Corps of Engineers to identify 15 water resources development projects eligible to be financed through public-private partnerships. Similar legislation was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and was included in the Senate version of WRDA which passed in May.

"Transportation via our waterways is an inexpensive and fuel efficient way to move our products, including 81 percent of our agriculture exports," said Davis. "With trade expected to double in the next 8 years, we must work to build the capacity of our deteriorating water infrastructure. Immediate action is vital and the public-private partnership program we worked to produce will create jobs and provide a way forward for more vital water projects. I applaud the committee for their hard work on WRRDA and I look forward to supporting it on the floor of the House."

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