On the recordMay 18, 2018
I appreciate the gentleman from Indiana's leadership on this amendment, and that of Mr. Gosar and others. Since its inception, the 2015 Waters of the U.S. rule has been an unworkable and unreasonable interpretation of the intent of the Clean Water Act. It was an overreach of an administration wishing to flex its muscles by imposing additional regulations where it had no jurisdiction. We are regulating things like backyard ditches and mud puddles, which we have a lot of in Louisiana. The absurdity of this rule has been evidenced by the back-and-forth legal battles that have ensued in the courts, most recently this past January in National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense. The Supreme Court's opinion in that case has thrown some industries into chaos, as uncertainty once again looms. Congress has the capability to provide a permanent statutory answer on the merits of the rule, once and for all, by nullifying the rule in its entirety. The Waters of the U.S. rule is bad for America's farmers, bad for American energy, and bad for America's builders. My friend calls it the poster child of government overreach, and I could not agree more. Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of this amendment.
