Press Releases

Opening remarks, as prepared, of Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Ranking Member David Rouzer (R-NC) from today’s hearing entitled, “Proposals for a Water Resources Development Act of 2022: Stakeholder Priorities”:

Thank you, Chair Napolitano. I appreciate you holding this hearing, and I would also like to thank our witnesses for testifying today.

Today’s hearing marks the second hearing of the House of Representatives’ portion of the drafting of a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) for 2022.

As I mentioned at our first WRDA hearing, this is one of the most important pieces of legislation that we do here at the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The more people hear about what is happening in Washington, the more they think it is broken and doesn’t work.  However, WRDA has been an exception to this.  Every two years since 2014, Congress has passed a WRDA bill.  In addition to being on a consistent schedule, these have been bipartisan.  Exemplifying this, in 2020, the House was able to pass WRDA by voice vote.

I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle here on the Committee and the full House to pass another WRDA in this two-year cycle and for it to be bipartisan.

Throughout this process, we will hear from people all over the country representing a wide assortment of interests, and we are hearing from some of them in this hearing.  Today, we’ll hear from those partnering with the Army Corps of Engineers on a variety of programs, ranging from storm surge protection to navigation at ports to environmental infrastructure.  I look forward to hearing about these projects and how they can help their communities and our country.

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