Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the ranking member for yielding. As a cosponsor of WRRDA, I rise today in strong support of this conference report. I am pleased with the bipartisan cooperation in and between both the House and the Senate. I think this is a blueprint for how Congress can move forward together on the goals of protecting American jobs and investing in infrastructure. I have been happy to work with Congressman Whitfield on the WAVE4 Act and appreciate that WRRDA includes provisions from that bill. These will allow the U.S. to make important additional investments in our Nation's aging inland waterways, including locks and dams such as the one in Lockport, Illinois. The conference report also takes additional steps to control the threat of Asian carp to the Great Lakes. I am pleased that it includes language resolving concerns about a potential dredge spoils site, the Lucas-Berg CDF in Worth, Illinois. Finally, I am very happy with the strong buy American provisions included in this bill that will help assure that we are creating American jobs. By passing this conference report today, we will move forward a number of important national priorities: facilitating the movement of goods and freight, investing in infrastructure, creating jobs, and reducing red tape to get projects done. I commend Chairman Shuster, Ranking Member Rahall, and the many others who worked very hard to get this bill done.”