James Oberstar: “I yield myself 4\1/2\ minutes and rise in strong support of H.R. 720, the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007. It has…”

“I yield myself 4\1/2\ minutes and rise in strong support of H.R. 720, the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007. It has been a long time coming to this point. We have labored within the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure for at least 11 years, maybe just a few months longer than that, to bring forth a bill to replenish the State revolving loan funds so that municipalities can continue the work of aggressively expanding their capacity to handle wastewater, treat that wastewater, return it to the receiving waters in good quality. We have been delayed over the last 6 Congresses, not by unwillingness within our Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, but because of external factors within the House. Now that those external factors have been removed, we are bringing this bill to the floor with good and sustained bipartisan support. I appreciate very much the support of Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer scheduling this legislation early on in the session; and I particularly appreciate the participation and cooperation of the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica), our ranking member, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr.…”