Bill Shuster

Mr. SHUSTER

Mr. SHUSTER. I thank the Chair, and I yield myself the remaining time. I also thank members from the other side of the aisle, Mr. Rahall, Mr. Bishop of New York, and their staff for all their hard work and for working together to produce a bipartisan bill, a bill that is full of policy, full of reform, a bill that is fiscally responsible and, I must say, is the most fiscally responsible WRRDA in the history of WRRDA. There are no earmarks, but we made sure that we did not cede any of our constitutional congressional authority to the executive branch, which I believe is very important for this body and for the Congress. As I have said, we have worked together in a bipartisan fashion in talking to the stakeholders at roundtables and in hearings and coming up with a piece of legislation, and I am very proud we have it on the floor today. Again, our thanks to Ranking Member Rahall, Ranking Member Bishop, and the entire staff on the minority for working with us so closely. Also, I would like to thank our staff for the long hours that they have put in, and my counterpart, Subcommittee Chairman Gibbs, for his efforts and his staff member Joe Price who worked so hard and also John Anderson, Geoff Bowman, Jonathan Pawlow, and Tracy Zea from the Water Resources Subcommittee. And in the front office, starting with the leadership of Chris Bertram, the staff director, and a special thanks to the deputy staff director and my long-time staff member Steve Martinko for ramrodding this through the committee--I appreciate his support--Beth Spivey, Matt Sturges, Jim Tymon, Jennifer Hall, Clare Doherty, Jim Billimoria, Justin Harclerode, Michael Marinaccio, Caryn Moore, Denny Wirtz, and Keith Hall. All of these folks put in so many hours to make sure that we have on the floor here today a very good product, one that I am proud to stand behind, and I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of H.R. 3080. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I claim time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, H.R. 3080 was drafted in a bipartisan fashion. Our environmental streamlining provision in section 103 is a result of compromise. We have heard from many Members who are supportive of our provisions to implement what is commonly called the ``three by three by three process.'' However, in order for the Corps to have the flexibility to fit within the timeframes laid in section 101 of H.R. 3080, accelerating the environmental review process in section 103 of the bill is critical. The amendment seeks to undermine all environmental streamlining provisions in WRRDA. Regardless of the existence of backlog, streamlining environmental reviews is an essential reform, and I believe will help to reduce backlogs. Additionally, reforms in WRRDA provide opportunities for non-Federal interests and other private sectors to move projects forward with their own funds, providing incentive for accelerating these project delivery processes regardless of the availability of Federal funding. So I urge all Members to oppose the amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Is the gentleman from Oregon prepared to close?

Mr. SHUSTER. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining?

Mr. SHUSTER. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) to control.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``no'' vote on the DeFazio amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, pursuant to H. Res. 385, I offer amendments en bloc.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that amendment No. 4 in House Report 113-251 be modified by the form I have placed at the desk.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I support the amendments en bloc, all of which have been approved by both the majority and the minority. These Members put forth thoughtful amendments, and I am pleased to be able to support moving them all en bloc. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, with that, I ask my colleagues to support the amendments en bloc, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman yielding, and I reluctantly rise in opposition to my good friend from Alaska's amendment. The Corps of Engineers, like all Federal agencies, is required to follow acquisition and procurement laws. Much of the work of the Corps is in fact contracted out to private sector entities, including much of the hydrographic mapping, which is integral to construction and operation and maintenance. While I understand and empathize with the sponsor of the amendment, it appears to me to be more of an acquisition and procurement issue. What we do not want is to have one acquisition and procurement law for the Federal Government, and a new or special or additional acquisition or procurement law for the Corps of Engineers. So again, I reluctantly rise in opposition to my good friend from Alaska's amendment.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, typically the Corps of Engineers carries out studies and projects that are cost-shared with non-Federal sponsors. Sand transfer facilities that are associated with beach nourishment projects are traditionally a non-Federal responsibility. This amendment would require the Corps of Engineers to assume the operation and maintenance costs of these facilities. This would put more funding requirements on the Federal taxpayer for this type of work. It is clear that the Corps' budget will not be increased substantially to cover these additional requirements. One of the key goals of H.R. 3080 is to empower non-Federal interests to take a larger role in carrying out water resources projects. This amendment is not financially responsible since it would place an additional burden on the Corps of Engineers without recognizing the fiscal restraints the Corps is already under, so I urge all Members to oppose this amendment. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``no'' vote. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the gentleman from Michigan wanting to be fiscally responsible. That is what we tried to do in this bill. All of the new authorizations in WRRDA were more than fully offset by deauthorizations, and WRRDA seeks to deauthorize its old, inactive projects which have not begun construction or have not received any funds, Federal or non-Federal, in the last 5 years. This approach cuts waste and reduces the backlog of projects that are unlikely to move forward. Such a significant increase in the deauthorization target could have unforeseen consequences, and I believe it would effectively deauthorize viable projects--projects that are almost ready to go, projects that have non-Federal money committed to them--and impact the ability to move these forward, these important water resources and infrastructure improvements that are ready to move that have non-Federal dollars in place. We also put in this bill a sunset law, that if any new authorizations do not move in 7 years, they will automatically be deauthorized. It will continue to push down on that backlog. I certainly would be open in the next WRRDA bill for additional deauthorizations to make sure we continue to reduce that backlog. I reluctantly urge all Members to oppose this amendment.

Mr. SHUSTER. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. SHUSTER. I thank the gentleman from North Carolina, and I thank you for raising this issue. We will be happy to try to work with you as we go through conference to look into what you are talking about and making sure we do what is right for the country in moving forward.

Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.