Bill Shuster

Mr. Chairman, I would respond to the distinguished gentleman, it is very true, if you go back in history, there was substantial general fund money spent on highways and other transportation projects. CDBG grants were spent, revenue sharing…

The gentleman said that the line-item veto did not apply here. The line-item veto by the President does apply and the President would be able to exercise the line-item veto, which is simply one of the many spending constraints that would…

I simply point out to my friends that under the Largent amendment, even with the cuts, the State revolving fund under the Largent amendment would still be very substantially higher than the appropriation requested by the Clinton…

The San Diego situation is a classic example of regulatory overkill. But regardless of how you feel about San Diego, you should vote ``no'' on this amendment, because it guts all of the provisions that allow flexibility on secondary…

I would take back my time and say the gentleman is absolutely right. It is an organization. These are the bureaucrats from the various States, and the National Governors Association opposes this amendment.

I thank my friend. That is not the way we interpret it, it is not the way the national Governors interpret it, and it is not the way the State Water Quality Association interprets it.

I would take back my time, Mr. Chairman, and point out that the gentleman is so right, this was supposed to be guidelines. However, the EPA is using this and interpreting it as a basis for forcing the States to comply. It is one more…

I would respond to my friend that the law is very clear, and the technical staff tells me that in these examples, the State of Maryland or the State of New Jersey could regulate that land as a wetland under State regulations.

I would ask the gentleman, is it true that under our bill, Maryland and Nebraska, the two examples the gentleman used, would be totally free to designate the two examples he gives as a wetland and regulate them as a wetland.

I want to make the point that, if this is so good for the farmers, why are the farmers all opposed to it?

I have not only talked to my staff, I have just gotten off the phone from talking to the office of the mayor of Provo, UT. No one from my staff spoke to the mayor of Provo, UT. I am sure my good friend in the heat of the moment made an…

I say to my friend they are user fees. It is not a general tax paid by all Americans, but rather by the traveling public who buys a gallon of gasoline or pays a ticket tax. They are user fees, and, therefore, they are fundamentally…

The gentleman used my name. The difference is this is out of a trust fund. This is contract authority. There can be no deficit spending. That is the distinction here, and that is why this amendment should be overwhelmingly defeated.

I presume he is referring to Route 220. That came from contract authority as a high-priority project. It has been in operation for 5 years, and in the past the old highway experienced six fatalities a year, and since that new highway has…

I can only report that the experts on our staff, the ones who have advised us as we have written this legislation, because it is the legislation that came from our committee, have advised us that the Clean Water Act would come under this…

I will say further that my staff on the floor here is indicating that--and these are the experts on clean water, this is the staff that advised us when we wrote the clean water legislation--these experts are confirming to me right now that…