On the recordJuly 10, 2013
We have a situation that exists in Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri that I know of along the Missouri River, which I've represented the entire stretch along Iowa. It's an attempt to save the endangered species known as the pallid sturgeon, and I brought a little sample of him here. He's the only one in congressional captivity. This came from the hatchery at U.S. Fish and Wildlife, by the way. But what they're doing is an attempt to create shallow water habitats so this pallid sturgeon can reproduce. They're opening up the old oxbows, and that's all right. But what they're doing is dredging millions of cubic yards of dredge spoil out of those old channels into the river channel itself. And we know that dredge spoil is listed under the Clean Water Act as a toxic pollutant. They wouldn't let farmers do it. They wouldn't let contractors do it. The Corps of Engineers doesn't need to. They have better alternatives that are consistent with the Clean Water Act. So my amendment simply says none of the funds can be used to dredge this into the river, and they would need to follow their own rules like everybody else does. I urge the adoption of this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
