Providing for Consideration of H.R. Supporting Transparent Regulatory and Environmental Actions in Mining Act; Providing for Consideration of S.J. Res. Providing for Congressional Disapproval of A Rule Submitted By the Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Iran Terror Finance Transparency Act; and Providing for Proceedings During the Period From January Through January 2016
Floor Speech
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Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this rule and, certainly, the underlying legislation.
Despite abundantly clear congressional intent to limit Federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act to only navigable waters, the waters of the United States rule will expand EPA's jurisdiction to nearly all areas with any hydrological connection to navigable waters.
This rule relied on--and I want to quote here General Peabody of the Army Corps of Engineers--``inappropriate assumptions with no connection to the data provided, misapplied data, analytical deficiencies, and logical inconsistencies.''
In fact, the Army Corps, the joint author of the rule, was so concerned about the EPA's methods, they wanted their name and logo removed from EPA documents.
Furthermore, it has now come to light that the EPA broke Federal law by engaging in a propaganda campaign to carry out this agenda behind their rule.
Congress has a responsibility to guard against these bureaucratic power grabs by executive agencies. This is why I introduced the companion bill to the underlying legislation immediately after the rule was finalized. The resolution has gained more than 70 cosponsors, with supporters from both sides of the aisle.
Thanks to the expedited procedures established under the Congressional Review Act, when we vote on this legislation tomorrow, the bill will proceed directly to the President's desk.
Tomorrow's vote will also mark the second time legislation has passed out of the House of Representatives to repeal the waters of the U.S. rule with bipartisan support.
My hope is the President will listen to the American people, listen to their concerns, local officials, small-business men and women, and begin pursuing policies which expand economic opportunity, and not stifle innovation with one regulation after another.
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