Eightmile Wild and Scenic River Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I have got a feeling that people in this Chamber have heard more about the Eightmile River in Connecticut than they probably ever wanted to. But I want to thank Chairman Grijalva and Chairman Rahall, intelligent, thoughtful people who understand the 10 years of hard work that has taken place in the communities of Salem, Lyme and East Haddam, Connecticut, to get to this day is worth proceeding and moving forward.

There are 168 rivers in this country that have been designated as Wild and Scenic, and the Federal Government has not swept in and seized property as part of this program. This is a program which is aimed at preserving water quality and species, and it is very clear in the act that the government will waive any powers of condemnation if they are satisfied that there are zoning and wetland regulations in place which will accomplish those goals. And that is exactly the situation here.

These three towns have wetland regulations which have been on the books before the application for Wild and Scenic status ever took place which the Parks Department checked off on its box as adequate to achieve the goals of this program, and thus the statute specifically states that the condemnation powers shall not apply to this property.

When this issue came up 3 weeks ago, newspapers back home looked at it and just said the claims of the other side are just not true. And that is why the Republican Governor of the State of Connecticut, Jodi Rell; the Republican First Selectman of the Town of Lyme; the Republican First Selectman of the Town of Salem; and the Democratic First Selectman, who's a pretty good guy too, have all come out in support of this legislation because it has been a grassroots community effort, bipartisan, property owners and public officials, to make the Eightmile River part of the family of rivers in this country which have been identified as worth preserving for our children and our grandchildren.

The bill that was drafted by nonpartisan staff follows the basic legislative format that this Congress has followed in the past for Wild and Scenic status. In fact, the prior Congress which was controlled by the Republicans, the 109th Congress, proceeded on a river designation in the State of New Jersey without any of the language which is included in the motion to recommit. If it was such a big deal, why didn't the other side, when they were in control, actually adopt that language?

I think, frankly, folks, we are talking about politics here and not policy. And again I want to thank Mr. Grijalva for his strong support.

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