Water Resources Development Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. SHUSTER. 8.

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to bring to the floor today the Water Resources Development Act of 2018. This marks the third Congress in a row that the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of the House will consider a water resources bill, so we are back to regular order when it comes to WRDA.

I hope we bring it to the floor today, and I hope we pass a WRDA bill. That is good news for the American people and the American economy, because WRDA works. WRDA works because it ensures that Congress carries out its clear Federal role in addressing infrastructure that is critical to our commerce and competitiveness, and to protecting communities throughout the country.

WRDA authorizes targeted investments in America's harbors, ports, locks, dams, inland waterways, flood protection, environmental restoration, and other water resources infrastructure.

This infrastructure, maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is vital to every part of the country and every American benefits from it. You don't have to live near a port or a major waterway to experience these benefits. The health of this infrastructure directly impacts how efficiently the things we buy get onto our store shelves, and how quickly the goods that we produce get to markets around the world.

WRDA improvements originate at the local level. They grow our local, regional, and national economies, and they create good-paying jobs. Restoring WRDA legislation to a 2-year congressional cycle was one of the first goals when I became chairman in 2013. By working together, we passed WRDA into law in 2014 and 2016.

Both of these measures attracted broad bipartisan support, and this bill is no different, passing out of our committee unanimously 2 weeks ago. I want to thank Ranking Member DeFazio, Water Resources Environment Subcommittee Chairman Garret Graves, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Grace Napolitano for working with me to introduce this bill.

Our bipartisan legislation follows the fiscally responsible, transparent process for considering Corps activities that Congress established in 2014. It maintains strong congressional oversight and the constitutional authority of the Legislative Branch. It deauthorizes old projects to fully offset new authorizations, and sunsets new authorizations to prevent future backlogs.

WRDA also builds on past reforms of the Corps and explores new ways to deliver projects more efficiently. In keeping with traditional WRDAs, my cosponsors and I agreed to narrowly focus our bill on the civil works program of the Corps. Preserving the civil works focus of this bill increases the likelihood of final passage.

If we don't enact a bill into law this year, we will delay necessary water infrastructure improvements and increase project costs. Let's approve this vital bill today. Let's build our water infrastructure. Let's grow our economy, and let's create jobs. Let's pass WRDA, because WRDA does work, and let's ensure that WRDA continues to work for the American people.

Mr. Chairman, I look forward to a good debate today and to moving this bill to the Senate, so I urge all of my colleagues to support the bill.

Mr. Chair, I include in the Record a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office for H.R. 8.
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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves), who is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves). The other Mr. Graves from the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis), a member of the committee.

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Sanford).

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Rouzer).

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. LaMalfa).

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

The manager's amendment we are offering makes technical and conforming changes to the Rules Committee Print and adds important provisions that we worked out with the minority. This amendment includes a provision that establishes a regional long-term contract pilot program in order to drive efficiency and cost savings for our Nation's dredging responsibilities.

It also contains a provision that the Secretary deliver a report to Congress on the current status of the Old River control structure on the Mississippi River.

This amendment corrects a provision that would have created direct spending authority for certain Everglades projects. It expedites five project studies for critical water resource projects. Lastly, this amendment de-authorizes a project in Boston Harbor.

Mr. Chair, I urge all Members to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chair, I ask all Members to support the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chair, as the designee of the gentleman from Florida, I offer amendment No. 6.

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chair, this amendment should help projects be executed more quickly, and I appreciate my colleagues who worked on this: Mr. Posey, Mr. Mast, Mr. Hastings, and Ms. Wilson.

I ask all my colleagues to support this. I think it is a good amendment.

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

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Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chair, I move that the Committee do now rise.

The motion was agreed to.

Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr. Graves of Louisiana) having assumed the chair, Mr. Harper, Acting Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union, reported that that Committee, having had under consideration the bill (H.R. 8) to provide for improvements to the rivers and harbors of the United States, to provide for the conservation and development of water and related resources, and for other purposes, had come to no resolution thereon.

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