Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chairman, in May of 2011, under the strong objections of numerous folks in southeast Missouri and my predecessor, the Army Corps of Engineers activated the Birds Point levee, which is the second time since 1937. This resulted in an extensive amount of damage: over $156 million worth of damage and flooding of over 130,000 acres. In that place, homes and communities were completely destroyed and crops were lost.

After the water receded, many residents simply chose not to ever return home and back to their community. These are individuals that lived there for numerous generations. One community, a small town called Pinhook in Mississippi County, right in the boot heel, that no longer exists after the activation of that floodway.

The amendment that I have today is quite simple, Mr. Chairman. It says, when an activation of the Birds Point levee occurs, we must build it back. Not anything else other than if there is an activation, the government must build it back. If they destroy a community by activating and blowing up a levee, they must build it back. The amendment is extremely simple.

Had families in the Birds Point floodway had the assurance that a plan was already in place, perhaps they would have chosen to return back to their home for generations.

When river levels rise, safety is always the number one concern. But the Corps of Engineers should never, under any circumstances, breach a levee without already having in place plans for its restoration, allowing for residents to return to their lives as soon as possible.

I urge my colleagues to support my amendment and give assurance to Americans who live in floodways that their homes and livelihoods matter, and to remove any uncertainty that, should the worst happen, their lives can return to normal.

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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chairman, the language of the amendment is very clear, very clear. It does one simple thing. It means, if the activation of this levee ever occurs, that the Federal Government is obligated to rebuild it.

It is a limiting amendment that is crystal clear. It provides that, if there is an activation, that the Federal Government is obligated to build it back, simple as it is, making sure the Federal Government is responsible for its actions.

I ask the body to support the amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

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