Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I come before the Senate to talk about the waters of the United States rule and the legislation pending before us, S. 1140. I hope we can proceed to the bill. This is an important issue. Obviously, the definition of the waters of the United States sets the rules of the game of who is covered under the Clean Water Act. As has been stated, several Supreme Court decisions over the past decade and a half have created a lot of uncertainty for landowners and those who work the land who aren't sure whether they will be regulated. Regulated entities need a rule that is consistent and that has some predictability. That is not what we are getting with this rule. The rule issued on June 29 defines jurisdiction very broadly, as we heard, especially when it comes to streams that don't flow year round, intermittent, ephemeral streams, of which Arizona has many. Several scientists who have been involved in the rulemaking process have told my staff that there is a disagreement between what the science says and what this rule says. Science says that some streams are strongly connected and others are not. There is a so-called spectrum of connectivity, but this rule assumes they are all strongly connected. Let me show a picture of a stream. This is Dan Bell, a rancher in southern Arizona, near the border of Santa Cruz County, standing on a streambed or a dry wash or arroyo that will likely be covered under this rule. Like Dan, I grew up on a ranch in northern Arizona.…”