Woodall calls water resources bill a "positive step for Georgia'

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Ga., told constituents on Tuesday that he hopes the Water Resources and Development Act of 2016 passed by the House Transportation Committee last week will lead to better governance of water ways and infrastructure.

Woodall, a member of the committee, called the $5 billion bill a step toward passing a water infrastructure bill once every two years. He said that frequency is needed to provide over-site of projects while stopping obsolete projects and ensuring "more responsible stewardship" of tax payer dollars.

"This bill is a positive step for Georgia, and for several reasons, it's also a positive step for Congress," Woodall said in a newsletter to constituents. "First of all, it restores the biennial process of approving a water resources bill.

"For years, the needs of America's harbors, ports, dams, and other infrastructure were mired in the same gridlock that consumes much of Washington."

The House version of the bill is several billion dollars smaller than the $9.4 billion bill passed by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. That is reportedly due to the fact that the Senate committee has broader jurisdictional powers to tackle issues, such as the Flint water crisis, that the House Transportation Committee lacks the authority to handle.

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