Nick Rahall: “Throughout the process of developing this water resources bill, Chairman Shuster has done a remarkable job of…”

“Throughout the process of developing this water resources bill, Chairman Shuster has done a remarkable job of maintaining a balance between addressing future water resource needs of the Nation and coming to terms with those legacy projects and studies of the Corps of Engineers that may have languished over the decades. Unfortunately, the pending amendment would upset that balance, and it seeks to deauthorize a massive amount of projects that I would suggest continue to have strong local, congressional, and potentially administrative support. While addressing the unconstructed backlog is an important issue, I urge opposition to this amendment that seeks to wipe away much of the good work of this body over the decades simply to make a point on fiscal conservatism. We all want to address the debt. It is a worthy goal. I agree with the gentleman's comments about passing that debt on to our children and grandchildren, but I suggest this is not the proper manner in which we are fair to our entire country and to the future infrastructure of this Nation. I reserve the balance of my time.”