Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to Lee amendment No. 132. This amendment would require that any applicant for wastewater infrastructure funds undertake an assessment regarding the potential impacts of climate change on the project and to adjust that project accordingly. Well, that sounds well and good, but this layers a new Federal mandate on top of the multitude of Federal regulations that are already being imposed on States, Tribes, and local governments in order to maintain their wastewater infrastructure and serve their communities. A one-size-fits-all regulation like this will create more process and increase project costs, but not add any more protection for projects, the environment or the climate. States, Tribes, and local governments are already incorporating resiliency into their infrastructure project planning and implementation. This is not 1960. For example, the State revolving loan fund programs already fund a wide range of projects to add resiliency and climate change. That makes this amendment unnecessarily redundant and an impediment for communities looking to upgrade their wastewater infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.”