Sunday, June 16, 2024

Congressional Record publishes “WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES” on Jan. 12, 2016

Volume 162, No. 7 covering the 2nd Session of the 114th Congress (2015 - 2016) was published by the Congressional Record.

The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.

“WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H296 on Jan. 12, 2016.

The publication is reproduced in full below:

WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES

(Mrs. ROBY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mrs. ROBY. Mr. Speaker, this week we are again taking important and long-awaited action on behalf of farmers, foresters, and anyone who owns land by sending to the President's desk a joint resolution ending the aggressive overreach by the Environmental Protection Agency into private lands.

S.J. Res. 22 is a joint resolution with the U.S. Senate to end the EPA's ridiculous waters of the United States rule seeking to expand the definition of ``navigable waters'' to include puddles, ditches, and other small bodies of water, making them subject to inspection.

Of course, we all want to ensure that rules are followed to keep our waters clean, but making puddles and ditches subject to inspection just to expand the reach of Federal regulators has nothing to do with clean water.

Mr. Speaker, you might recall that the House voted to put a stop to the waters of the U.S. rule last year, and the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a nationwide stay on the rule. However, this joint resolution is the measure we needed to finally send this bill to the President and put the responsibility for this harmful rule on him.

I will continue to fight against this radical environmental agenda being forced on Americans by this administration through executive overreach. The Congress is right to take steps to stop it.

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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 162, No. 7