Political Quotes

“I rise to speak in support of the Restore Aging Infrastructure Now RAIN Act, which I introduced today. Senator Alex Padilla is cosponsoring the legislation. This bill has three purposes: No. 1, upgrade aging canals and other facilities owned by the Bureau of Reclamation to provide environmental and other benefits; No. 2, for the first time provide grant funding rather than loans for Reclamation facility upgrades that provide drinking water for disadvantaged communities; and No. 3, incentivize agricultural and municipal irrigation districts to participate in these projects by giving them a 15 percent discount on what they owe for repairing the aging facilities that serve them. Let me explain these three bill purposes in more detail. First, Congress has appropriated $3.2 billion for the Bureau of Reclamation to repair its aging canals, dams and other facilities. If the Federal taxpayers are spending this much money to retool Reclamation infrastructure for the needs of the 21st century, the Department of the Interior should have the authority to modify the Reclamation facilities to achieve increased environmental benefits, drinking water for disadvantaged communities, and other project benefits. This bill applies to Reclamation ``transferred works'' facilities, which are operated and maintained by agricultural or municipal water districts.…”