Providing for Further Consideration of H.R. National Defense

Floor Speech

I rise today to offer my amendment, No. 461, to reauthorize the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program. This program was established through the Delaware River Basin Conservation Act passed by Congress bipartisanly in 2016.

This program provides invaluable support, through technical and grant assistance, to projects in the Delaware River Basin.

One recipient among many of these grants is the Delaware River Basin Commission, the interstate agency that coordinated efforts to protect the Delaware River. This commission, which is made up of State Governors as well as the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' North Atlantic Division, has been a major player in protecting the health and safety of over 7 million Americans spread over 13,000 square miles since 1961.

The commission utilizes grants administered through the program for a variety of projects, including protecting local fish habitats and maintaining fish species populations in the Delaware River. These projects serve both an environmental purpose to protect our local wildlife but also our local industries reliant on access to a healthy and safe waterway, and they indirectly support millions of dollars in local economies.

Reauthorizing the Delaware River Basin Conservation Act allows the U.S. Army Corps, as well as other interstate agencies, environmental nonprofits, and local governments, to fund the necessary environmental protection and conservation efforts needed to keep our citizens safe and healthy.

In my home city of Philadelphia, the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund was providing funds to multiple agencies to install green stormwater controls, restore degraded trail corridors, and build a new park to connect underserved neighborhoods to recreational opportunities on the Delaware River.

This amendment not only protects our environment, but it protects our economies, our livelihoods, our health, and our safety.

In line with the bipartisan infrastructure bill that Congress passed last year, this amendment will also allow the Secretary of the Interior to waive cost-share requirements for the most disadvantaged communities. That is rural and urban. This will help low-income communities, and it is important to understand what that means to our local environment.

The Delaware River Basin Conservation Act was passed in 2016 with bipartisan support. I urge my colleagues to join in supporting the passage of this amendment and reauthorizing this necessary environmental program.

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Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I will repeat what I said. This was passed bipartisanly in 2016, the very same year I came in, Mr. Speaker.

I shared with you that it is about the people, and at the end of the day, that is what we are here for.

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