David Perdue: “I thank the Senator. Mr. President, the bill before us, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 2015, is…”

“I thank the Senator. Mr. President, the bill before us, the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 2015, is an important bill, and I appreciate Senator Isakson's leadership in this matter. I hope this bill can be considered again in the near future but under different circumstances. This bill currently contains language that you just heard that would prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from updating the Master Water Control Manual for the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa River system. By blocking updates to the water control manual, this bill would give Alabama the power to veto any plan by the Army Corps of Engineers to use Federal projects to accommodate both States' water supply needs. When we look at what is really happening, it should concern every Member of this body as well as every person in the United States. For the last 30 years, as the Senator just mentioned, the States of Georgia and Alabama have been in litigation about the use of water in the ACT River system. In instances like this, the court system is the best way to resolve these issues between the States, not the body we are in today. Instead, the senior Senator from Alabama has chosen to insert specific language in this bill to litigate this issue in the Senate instead of the courts.…”