[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 81 (Wednesday, May 28, 2014)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E844-E845] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] IN SUPPORT OF WRRDA CONFERENCE REPORT ______ HON. SUZANNE BONAMICI of oregon in the house of representatives Wednesday, May 28, 2014 Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for the conference report to H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act, and to urge its passage. Across the country, my colleagues and I hear consistently across all sectors: invest in infrastructure. The federal investment in infrastructure has fallen to a paltry level, and our communities are feeling the tangible impacts of this every day. There are few issues we discuss here in D.C. that have such an immediate and positive economic effect in our districts. Not only does investing in infrastructure put people to work, it allows for the efficient movement of people and goods, an essential aspect of commerce, economic growth, and public safety. The failure to invest in infrastructure will threaten our global competitiveness and the safety and quality of life of our constituents. The nation's waterways are integral to the movement of goods. This is especially true in my home state of Oregon, where wheat and other goods speed down the Columbia River bound for export markets in Asia, and imports are loaded from ocean-going container ships to barges and sent up the river toward domestic markets. This waterway network must be supported for our economy to thrive, and the bill before us today will allow the Army Corps of Engineers to continue the important work of maintaining and protecting these waterways. The conference report also takes an important step toward full allocation of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, which has for too long seen its dedicated funds diverted for uses beyond its intended purpose. In addition, the conference report includes a set-aside for small ports and emerging harbors, which will include many ports in Oregon that are located in areas where the economy has taken the toughest hit over the last five years. These ports can't compete for Harbor Maintenance funding alongside the large, deep-draft ports, but the legislation before us today gives them a chance to access vital Army Corps maintenance funding. This was a priority for the Oregon delegation, and we are grateful that Representative DeFazio was able to include it in the House-passed WRRDA bill and succeed in having it be part of the conference report. Another important provision included in the conference report allows non-federal public entities to provide funds to the Army Corps to expedite the permitting process, preventing the lapses in project approval and the massive backlogs that can result when Congress delays reauthorization of the program. This will allow local governments to move forward with important infrastructure and ecosystem restoration projects, and reduces wait times for all applicants waiting on permit approval from the Army Corps. Maintaining healthy waterways includes protecting the coastal and riparian ecosystem. This conference report makes a strong investment in ecosystem restoration in the Columbia River and Tillamook Bay estuaries in Oregon and our neighboring state of Washington. By increasing the authorization for ecosystem [[Page E845]] projects under Section 536, this bill will expand the scope of the work underway to preserve and restore vital fish and wildlife habitat. We must do more to bring back the stability and biodiversity that makes the Columbia River basin one of the lushest fish and wildlife habitats in the world, and this legislation is an important step. One specific ecosystem restoration program included in the bill is the Willamette Floodplain Restoration Study, which seeks to restore natural floodplain function to the region and improve flood storage along the river. In addition, the bill includes an investment in invasive species monitoring and prevention through provisions that allow the Army Corps to establish watercraft inspection stations and other preventive measures. This is an investment worth making. Invasive species threaten ecosystems as well as infrastructure, including the Pacific Northwest's hydropower system. One provision in this bill is especially important to a hard-hit community in my district, and I would like to thank the conferees for including it. In Warrenton, Oregon, the Hammond Marina has long been operated by the City of Warrenton, but the land on which it sits is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers. House and Senate conferees agreed to include language conveying ownership of this land to the city. This has been a priority for the City of Warrenton, which is prepared to improve the marina at Hammond Basin, a project that will benefit the economy of Oregon's North Coast. It will come at no cost to the federal government, and represents another provision of this bill that will help my constituents and, importantly, support economic growth in coastal Oregon. Another key provision of this conference report, authored by my Oregon colleague Senator Jeff Merkley, is the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Authority (WIFIA) pilot project. This program will provide low-cost financing to state and local governments--along with tribes, corporations, and others--to undertake low-cost water infrastructure improvement projects. This proposal is widely supported by my constituents and groups across Oregon, from the Building Trades to the utility districts, and I applaud the conference committee for including it in this report. I still have concerns about environmental review provisions in the conference report, and I will continue to advocate for improvements that my colleagues and I tried to make by amendment when this bill was considered on the House floor. Attributing permitting backlogs to the environmental review process ignores the funding challenges that have beset the Army Corps in recent years, as Congress has repeatedly failed to provide adequate funding for the review of all necessary projects. Though more can be done to improve that section, the conference report includes compromise environmental review language from the bill that is preferable to the House version, and I am glad to see that change. The conference report before us today is a positive step toward robust, bipartisan investment in infrastructure development. This must be done to keep our country competitive and keep our goods moving efficiently on our waterways, and to protect habitat from the impacts of increased trade and transport. I thank the Committee Chairmen and Ranking Members for their hard work to pass a strong bipartisan bill and urge my colleagues to support final passage. ____________________