Water Resources Development Act of 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. STANTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Water Resources Development Act. First, I thank the chair of the subcommittee, Chairman Rouzer, and the amazing and incomparable Ranking Member Grace Napolitano for their leadership on this important legislation that invests in our Nation's water resources infrastructure.

In addition, I thank the professional staff, both Republican and Democrat. A bill of this magnitude and importance wouldn't get done without their great work. I thank them on behalf of all members of the committee.

For Arizona, this bill delivers long-term investments that I have long fought for, and ones we desperately need to address the ongoing, historic drought in the Southwest.

The bill confronts the drought by bolstering the ability of the Corps of Engineers to protect water supplies and assist our communities with drought resiliency and mitigation measures.

It also includes an additional $50 million for my Arizona environmental infrastructure authority to assist more of our communities and Tribal nations with their water and wastewater infrastructure challenges.

Finally, it jump-starts the Tres Rios ecosystem restoration project to revitalize the Salt River and Gila River corridors in Phoenix that is part of the larger Rio Reimagined, a legacy project of the late great Senator John McCain and the late Representative Congressman Ed Pastor.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this critical bill.

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