Providing for Congressional Disapproval of A Rule Submitted By the Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency--Veto
Floor Speech
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Mrs. ERNST. Mr. President, I want to thank my colleagues--the Senators from Missouri, North Dakota, and Wyoming--for their colloquy. This is a big deal, not just for those of us from these States but for all Americans. We have a choice today. We do have a choice. We can stand with our farmers, our ranchers, our small businessmen, our manufacturers, our homebuilders, or we can stand with an overreaching Federal agency that is committed to expanding its reach to over 97 percent of our lands in Iowa and, as my colleague from Missouri stated, 99.7 percent of the land in Missouri.
I know what I am going to do. I am going to stand with my constituents. I am going to stand with Iowans who have told me time and again that their voices were not heard in this process and that their livelihoods are being threatened.
Instead of listening to those who will be most impacted by this rule, the EPA thought it would be better to use taxpayer dollars to illegally solicit comments in an effort to falsely justify their power grab.
A little over a week ago, President Obama, in his State of the Union Address, pledged a willingness to work with Congress on cutting redtape. This bipartisan legislation presented a great opportunity to do just that, but instead he sided with unelected bureaucrats and an unchecked Federal agency. So apparently he must have already forgotten what he had said.
I would also like to remind everyone that in November, 11 of my Democratic colleagues voted to uphold President Obama's rule at the behest of liberal special interests. Then immediately they ran for cover by sending a letter warning the EPA that they may oppose the rule in the future if it is not fixed. Only in Washington could someone reserve the right to do their job at a later time. Here we are 3 months later, and this rule is not fixed. Well, I say to those colleagues: Today is that later time. Join me in helping to fix this rule today.
In closing, we all want clean water. That is not disputable. I have continuously emphasized that the water we drink needs to be clean and safe. However, this rule is not about clean water; it is a regulatory power grab that harms our farmers, ranchers, small businesses, manufacturers, and homebuilders. Stand up for them today, not for a Federal agency gone wrong.
I urge all of my colleagues to vote to scrap this ill-conceived waters of the United States expansion.
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