Brian Mast

I would also like to submit what was the bipartisan agreement that we had worked on prior to that, discussing ecological harm to the Everglades, protecting the Herbert Hoover dike, protecting public water supply.

I believe in the legal rights of all water users.

We are just asking for our permanent allocation that we have received from the water management district that--it is based on permitting, just like any municipality would get permitted, just like any development would get permitted. We are…

We are poisoned. The Corps and the EPA have both stated the water that we are discussing right now is 'toxic,' to use their words.

I like to think that this is the Erin Brockovich story of my community, because this is how we are poisoned year after year.

I need to correct a mistake, in that it can create situations for harmful algal blooms, but what I am speaking about specifically in my questioning are the algal blooms that are already present on this freshwater lake that reach a level…

I have a bill that I worked to get in the recent Water Resources Development Act that asked not that the Corps end all discharges into my community, but said when it reaches the level of toxic.

It is my hope we finalize this bill and send it to the President's desk this year.

strongly opposed to all amendments that affect Lake Okeechobee and its surrounding areas.

Where does the right to water end?

At what point does the right of somebody to ask for more and more water end, if somebody else has to get hurt to do it?

EPA has released national recommendations for the Human Health Recreational Ambient Water Quality Criteria or Swimming Advisories (AWQC/SA) for Microcystins and Cylindrospermopsin.

When does the right for somebody to ask for water end? Does it end if you have to hurt somebody else in order to get it?

We cannot go out there and make water promises when it means having to poison another community to do so.

Together, we can reduce Harmful Algal Blooms, ensure we have enough reliable safe drinking water for Floridians and visitors, and continue to protect South Florida from dangerous floods.

I say that this is the political equivalent to Stockholm syndrome, continuing to manipulate water policy to benefit those that are holding our State hostage right now.

I'm pleased to report that the Congressionally authorized Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, or CERP as its known here in South Florida, is making significant progress thanks to the support from the President and Congress coupled…

Funding and completing the projects of CERP is how we do that and how we prove that the United States can do what no one once thought possible.

I appreciate the gentleman yielding me the time. Madam Speaker, I also rise in support of my colleague. I rise in support of my colleague, Mr. Posey's amendment, specifically because what is going on with Virgin Trains and Brightline, it…

I rise also, today, in support of the Water Resources and Development Act of 2020. This piece of legislation is a top priority for my constituents in south Florida on the Treasure Coast because it is critical to our public health, our…

That is a false narrative. It is a false argument that it is either one or the other.

We are a body of 435 representatives. That is true. There is only one that can demand that that gavel go up and down. And I have a very simple question for this body: Can anybody, will anybody, in this body stand and say that the Speaker…

I would rather die than see my country stumble or fall, and, by God, I mean that. And I don't think I am the only one in this body who feels this way. I have worried that, as a result of a virus that was born in a disgusting market in…

Give me freedom, or give me death.

It seems very reasonable that, if Congress is going to invest in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund by doubling the authorization, that it be done as wisely as possible.