Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the distinguished ranking member for the time, and I also thank the managers who are on the floor today. Let me…”

“I thank the distinguished ranking member for the time, and I also thank the managers who are on the floor today. Let me clarify the reason for my being present as a member of the Homeland Security Committee, and one who has dealt with the issues by way of national security issues of water chemical contamination. I rise with great opposition to H.J. Res. 27. Let me call the roll: Flint, Michigan; Jackson, Mississippi; East Palestine, which it is known that the derailment also contaminated water; and cancer clusters in Houston where runoffs were contaminating the water. Let me give you the basis of what this is about. The rule that we are trying to oppose reestablishes critical protections for the Nation's vital water resources by returning to the longstanding 1986 regulations with appropriate updates, exclusions, and streamlining clarifications. In fact, the plain statement is that H.J. Res. 27 would leave Americans without a clear waters of the United States definition, which deals with the overall question of clean water. Mr. Speaker, I oppose it because it does clarify the categories of water bodies and wetlands that would be subject to government protection under the Clean Water Act. People are suffering across America. Mr. Speaker, to my good friend with the lawsuit by 24 States--we have 50 States. It is very clear that my good friends in the red States, the AGs, thought that they would undermine the President's direction on clean water. H.J. Res.…”