Bob Gibbs

This concern I have with this rule moving forward is that it is eroding that partnership and we will have degradation of our water quality in the United States and, also, our economy and jobs.

We should never forget that the Clean Water Act was set up to be a partnership between the States and the Feds.

I think there is a high level of distrust out there, and I am really concerned about how we move forward on that area.

I see an agency that is so hard over against coal that it will gloss over the science in doing so.

We feel we are under siege from an agency so power hungry that it is gobbling up jurisdiction and taking power away from our States.

This is our constitutional duty, and they are going to take it away from us.

We can continue to protect our waters without unreasonable and burdensome regulations on our businesses, farmers and families.

It is the responsibility of Congress, not the administration, to divide the scope of the jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.

This administration has again misprioritized the projects and programs of the Army Corps of Engineers.

America does not properly maintain and modernize its most efficient means of transportation.

I intend to hold oversight hearings on this issue in the coming weeks and to make sure that they are not able to move forward in expanded power.

We can continue to protect our waters without unreasonable and burdensome regulations on our small businesses, farmers, and families.

It is the responsibility of Congress, not the administration, to define the scope of the jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.

It will impact the Nation's economy, threaten jobs, invite costly litigation, and restrict the rights of landowners, States, and local governments to make decisions about their lands.

This is another example of a disturbing pattern of the imperial Presidency that seeks to use brute force and executive action while ignoring Congress.

In the Farm Bill, one of my top priorities was to give farmers a place at the table when it came to EPA regulations.

Are you personally aware of the disconnect between the agency you work for and the people that I represent in the agricultural community?

When Congress wrote the Clean Water Act and other Federal environmental statutes some 40 years ago, it envisioned the Federal Government and the States would be equal partners in solving the Nation's environmental problems.

When you look at funding priorities, first, invest in construction on tangible assets, whether it be locks and dams or ports versus eco restoration.

Once again, like Groundhog Day, this administration has misprioritized the projects and programs of the Army Corps of Engineers.

Many of the Army Corps of Engineers activities that we are examining today are true investments in America because they provide jobs and economic return.

I think it is of strategic national importance that we know what is going on there. We are going to lose another industry.

In the last year, I have become alarmed at the overreach of the Environmental Protection Agency.

I am a strong supporter of the efforts by Congress to control Federal spending, but many of the Army Corps of Engineers activities that we are examining today are true investments in America because they provide jobs and economic return.

Of course, I am always in favor, that the private sector creates more jobs than the public sector, but these are issues on infrastructure, and I think there is a role in the public sector.