Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025

Floor Speech

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Mrs. LUNA. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Chair, the Army Corps has halted beach renourishment projects in Florida due to their perpetual public access easement policy.

This is now affecting more than nine counties in Florida where the Corps has refused to renourish our beaches without stripping property rights from every homeowner, which is an unattainable requirement.

The Corps has renourished Florida beaches for the past two decades, using temporary construction easements to proceed with beach renourishment. The Corps is now going back to enforcing this new policy, purportedly from 1996 but not enforced for the past two decades.

They refuse to address the threat of shore erosion while we continue to watch our beaches disappear before our eyes. We have endangered species on that beach area, as well.

Numerous members of the Florida delegation have reached out to Assistant Secretary Connor at the Corps to resolve this issue. The unelected bureaucrats at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have a different agenda. They have been stonewalling us every step of the way and have neither followed up nor even gone through proceeding with scheduled beach renourishment projects where we are in dire need due to damages from recent hurricanes.

If the Army Corps does not do this, our beaches will continue to dissipate and our homes will be susceptible to destruction. The truth is that the Army Corps did not acquire perpetual easements before, and they do not need them now. The responsibility for the inevitable degradation of Florida's beaches, marine life, and economy will rest entirely on the Army Corps of Engineers.

Mr. Chair, I had another amendment that I had submitted in regard to this that would have required the Army Corps to provide the Committees on Appropriations in the House and Senate a report on the authorized hurricane and storm damage risk reduction projects impacted by hurricanes and other natural disasters over the last several years. Unfortunately, this was not made in order.

I do not know who the Army Corps is working for, but it is clear that they do not work for the American people. The amendment puts the Army Corps on notice for their shameful neglect of Floridians and forces them to work on restoring our beaches.

Again, we have some of the most endangered sea turtles that are nesting in our area. As a result of this habitat destruction, I am concerned that it is actually going to permanently impact our sea turtle population for the entire world.

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Mrs. LUNA. Mr. Chair, I want to put out there that we have been working on this for a number of years, not to mention my predecessors, both Democratic and Republican, have also attempted to work on this only to really be stonewalled by the Army Corps. To have them not even respond to Members of Congress isn't going to fix the issue any time soon.

Mr. Chair, I point out that while we are legislating here in Washington, people are actually losing their homes. To demand that a property owner give up their own property rights so that the Army Corps can go and restore habitat for endangered species and then point to a policy that they haven't enforced--not to mention when we have asked for actual documentation of internal communications, they sent us redacted information because they didn't want us to know about the internal communications that they were having.

I do think that it is political. I had a bipartisan delegation come up from my home. Mayors and local community leaders met with the Biden White House. They said this needs to be fixed, and we will help you. Do you know what? Nothing happened.

I hope that people consider supporting this. I am also concerned about taxpayer dollars, but I see our taxpayer dollars going to support basket-weaving projects in parts of the world that we don't even have an invested interest in. Frankly, when it comes down to it, I think this is a way better use. Not to mention, we also have a military purpose and focus in the State of Florida, and I think this benefits everyone net positive.

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

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