Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018

Floor Speech

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Mr. BANKS of Indiana. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment would fully repeal the poster child of government overreach from the Obama administration, the 2015 waters of the United States rule.

This rule gave unelected bureaucrats at the EPA the power to broadly interpret what is a navigable waterway and has led to mass confusion for farmers in my district and across the country.

The Obama-era WOTUS rule, which has been delayed thanks to the Trump administration, is confusing, overreaching, and broad. Under this rule, a navigable waterway could be interpreted in such a way that even a puddle in a farm's drainage ditch could be subjected to Federal regulation.

Mr. Chairman, it is vitally important that the definition of a navigable waterway be carefully and clearly determined. The encroachment of the Federal Government upon farmers and landowners has been severe.

We in Congress have a responsibility to call a spade a spade and remove this onerous regulation and go back to the drawing board with input from all stakeholders.

Mr. Chairman, unelected bureaucrats sitting behind a desk in Washington should not implement these overreaching Federal regulations on local farmers in northeast Indiana. Congress should work together with local and State officials and experts to determine an appropriate solution and remove the detrimental and excessive approach attempted by the Obama administration.

I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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