Providing for Congressional Disapproval of the Rule Submitted By the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency
Floor Speech
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Mr. BEYER. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in voting ``no'' on this effort to undo the EPA's waters of the U.S. rule.
EPA's rulemaking will simply restore the basics of what was protected by law for nearly 50 years before Trump's rule went into effect. It is an important protection to restore smart clean water protections.
We need to step forward for clean water because over half of our rivers and lakes in our country are too polluted for swimming, fishing, or drinking. I grew up near the Potomac River, where it was dangerous to get into something that was so incredibly dirty.
Americans are speaking up, and they say they want to swim and fish in their streams.
This EPA rule is also a step forward to protect wetlands. Last month, Stanford scientists showed that our country is responsible for more wetland loss and degradation than any other country.
We need to protect the wetlands that we still have left. Wetlands sequester carbon, which helps us in our climate change goals. Wetlands are a habitat that will help us stop the biodiversity crisis.
There is also a lot of talk about stakeholders wanting certainty in what waters are covered. I am on board with that certainty, and the new rulemaking provides just that, certainty for the Americans who want swimmable, fishable, drinkable waters and who want a safe climate and thriving biodiversity.
I had the honor of serving on the Science Committee for 8 years, and we heard again and again that virtually all scientists believe that water is the absolutely most essential requirement for life. Yet, we want to gut the most important rule to protect our water.
Undoing the waters of the U.S. rule is a step backward. For all Americans who want the certainty of a safe climate and clean water for the future, I have to vote ``no.''
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