Marcy Kaptur

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham), a member of the Agriculture, Budget, and Oversight Committees.

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to my colleague from California (Mr. Lowenthal) for the purpose of a colloquy.

Ms. KAPTUR. Will the gentleman yield?

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the gentleman for raising this important issue. I agree we should set our public transparency standards high when looking at taxpayer-funded projects. A portion of the risk-based data management activity is intended to be used for improving FracFocus, and as we move forward I will work with the gentleman to ensure that our intent is included in the conference report language.

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Chair, I would like to inquire as to the time remaining.

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Chair, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Chair, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Chair, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Chair, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Chair, I would like to inquire if the gentleman is ready to close.

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Chair, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Chair, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. I am prepared to close, Mr. Chairman, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, an energy-hungry world will continue to push up global energy prices and availability. America must not get caught in this ensuing juggernaut. Our liberty and economic security truly are at stake. The world is changing and so America must adapt, and adapt sooner rather than later. Over a quarter century ago, President Jimmy Carter was not wrong when he equated the struggle for energy independence as the moral equivalent of war. America, since, has been engaged in plenty of fighting abroad in oil-rich, unstable regions of our world. Instead, we must refocus and draw forth the powers of our own land, performing something worthy to be remembered, as Daniel Webster reminds us every day. Energy security is such a calling. Certainly, this bill leaves unmet opportunities on the table--too much, in my view--but its direction is clear. It aims at liberty. It looks forward to meeting that objective by moving this bill forward. I want to thank Chairman Simpson, Rob Blair, Taunja Berquam, and our entire staff for their willingness to work together, for preparing a bill that is inclusive and pragmatic. I appreciate Chairman Simpson's gentlemanly reach out to our side of the aisle. I also want to thank all the staff who helped. Their countless long hours, late nights during holidays and so forth, and their thoughtful insights have been critical to helping us prepare this legislation that is aimed at restoring liberty, creating jobs in America, reassuming economic power here at home, strengthening our energy portfolio and water security for future generations, and, fundamentally, our national security. I ask our colleagues as we move through the amendment process to help us move this bill forward in America's interest. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Will the gentleman yield?

Ms. KAPTUR. I wanted to thank the gentleman from the Lake Okeechobee region of Florida (Mr. Murphy) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Cleaver) for the very effective manner in which they have handled themselves in bringing this to our attention. And I want to thank the chair for accepting this important amendment, which is so important to Florida.

Ms. KAPTUR

Ms. KAPTUR. Will the gentleman yield?

Ms. KAPTUR. The chairman and I work very closely on matters like this. It is difficult because of the fact that we have no new starts. We have a backlog that is enormous. And the Corps is under pressure. But we will be very happy to work with the gentleman and to try to resolve situations that you may face in your region.

Ms. KAPTUR. Will the gentleman yield?

Ms. KAPTUR. There is no objection from our side. We look forward to working with the gentleman. In your region of the country, the Midwest, the Great Lakes, and the Northeast, in particular, those needs are huge.

Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the chairman for yielding and for your sympathy toward the intent of the amendment. I commend Congresswoman Hahn and Congressman Huizenga for elevating the question of our ports. Waterborne shipping is the most-efficient mode for moving goods in and out of this country. I think they are performing for this Congress an extraordinary service by uniting on a bipartisan basis and kind of ringing the bell and saying, Hey, pay attention to what is happening here with this harbor maintenance tax and how we help our ports compete, as we see the Panama Canal come online and shipbuilding occurring in other countries like South Korea, for example, and China and Singapore and lots of other places, and saying, Hey, America, wake up. I feel some urgency to want to support the direction of their efforts, but, as with the chairman, it comes to where the offset is. It is true that, with harbor maintenance tax funds, $185 million has been moved into the fund as a result of our efforts that the administration had not requested, so we as a subcommittee are moving in the right direction, but I am hoping that this might begin a conversation with our subcommittee and how we work with them on the harbor maintenance tax in a more effective manner. So I thank the chairman for yielding. They brought an important issue before us that we need to resolve more effectively.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman and Members, I rise to oppose the amendment because it doesn't make any sense to me to make it harder for the Corps to do its job when we know they have backlogs in projects of over $60 billion. We are increasing funding for the Corps to try to meet the needs of States like Arizona--and the other 49 States as well--and there seems to be no shortage of complaints about the Corps' response time on project issues because they can't get their work done because they don't have enough money to complete their projects. This gentleman may be unaware that oversight funding has already been cut by $4 million from the current year. We are giving the Corps more project money to try to deal with their backlog; but then if we don't have proper oversight, we are going to dig the hole deeper. We need to have the resources in order to complete the projects. The amendment, in a way, is penny-wise and pound-foolish because it reduces Federal oversight of more than $5 billion. The problem with the Corps historically has been that every Member has projects that they want completed, but we don't have the money to do it. If you are going to cut the legs out of staff that are there to do the job, it is going to make it much more difficult to manage the money. It is like trying to send an army into battle and not giving them the weapons to do it or creating all these barriers to completion. We need to turn around and allow the Corps to resolve the projects that are on the books--there are no new starts in this bill--and give them the staff to do the job and to get it done and to get it done well and within budget, not stretch it out. The reason these projects are stretched out over the years: they simply don't have the money. To put the infrastructure in the ground, whether it is Arizona, Ohio, or California, they are just shortchanged at every end. We make it really difficult for them. I think the gentleman is well-intended. He wants to get the work done. I want to get the work done. I don't think that the amendment actually leads us to that end. Respectfully, we would oppose the amendment and ask our colleagues to join us. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I move to strike the last word.

Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Chairman, I rise to support the gentleman's amendment and to say that he has worked so hard in the interest of maintaining both public health and restoration of the environment related to the Salton Sea. Unless you have actually seen the Salton Sea and the changing nature of the ecosytem in southern California, you can't imagine how enormous that challenge is. From the very first day he was elected, Mr. Ruiz was talking to us about the needs of that particular part of our country. I know that polluted agricultural runoff had something to do with what has happened to the Salton Sea. The changing nature of rainfall has transformed it. I think about the Sea of Azov in Russia and how dangerous that has become to the surrounding environment. We face the same challenge here in our country. I know it is difficult to resolve this issue, and it will take many years, because it didn't just take one year for the sea to become a wasteland, really, and the surrounding communities so affected. I just want to thank the gentleman for his leadership and for keeping us and your part of America on the right course. You are very talented and very caring. I just wanted to stand in support of your efforts. I yield back the balance of my time.