Today, the U.S. House of Representatives is considering H.R. 8, the Water Resources Development Act of 2018 (WRDA), bipartisan legislation that provides for improvements to the Nation’s ports, inland waterways, locks, dams, flood protection, ecosystem restoration, and other water resources infrastructure.
For additional information about WRDA, visit the Committee’s page on H.R. 8.
The following are Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster’s (R-PA) opening remarks for today’s floor debate:
I am pleased to bring to the Floor today the Water Resources Development Act of 2018.
This marks the third consecutive Congress that the House will consider and, I hope, pass a WRDA bill. That’s 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 store shelves, and how quickly the goods 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 two-year Congressional cycle was one of my first goals when I became Chairman. By working together, we passed WRDAs into law in both 2014 and 2016. Both of those measures attracted broad bipartisan support, and this bill is no different, passing out of our Committee unanimously two weeks ago.
I want to thank Ranking Member Peter DeFazio, Water Resources and 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 the 2014 law, maintains strong Congressional oversight and the constitutional authority of the Legislative Branch, deauthorizes old projects to fully offset new authorizations, and sunsets new authorizations to prevent future project 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 this bill only on the Civil Works program of the Corps. Preserving the Civil Works focus of this bill increases the likelihood of its 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. Let’s create jobs.
Let’s pass WRDA, because WRDA Works. And let’s ensure that WRDA continues to work for the American people.
