Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, I want to salute Chairman Rahall and Subcommittee Chairman Grijalva for the hard work that both of these individuals did to bring this legislation to the floor today. It took persistent leadership to, again, get 61 measures all here, ready for vote and final passage and transmittal to the White House.

Included in this bill, section 344, is the language which was included in H.R. 986 legislation, which we debated and passed last July, the designation of the Eightmile River in Connecticut, Wild and Scenic designation. This is an effort that has taken 10 years in the State of Connecticut. It's a river that is 8 miles long, extends from East Haddam through Salem, into Lyme, and then to Hamburg Cove on Long Island Sound.

It is one of the most pristine treasures in a highly densely populated part of the country, one of the original colonies, where we respect property rights dearly in the State of Connecticut. Over that 10-year period, a balanced process was followed, which brought consensus among all the communities, bipartisan support, the Republican Governor of Connecticut, the entire delegation from Connecticut, and particularly Senator Dodd, who led the fight in the Senate for passage. And the communities who have worked so hard to preserve this extraordinary body of water are, again, anxious and excited to see final passage, which will take the Eightmile River and make it part of the family of rivers that have received the Wild and Scenic designation over the 40 years of that act's existence in this country, 160 rivers.

Again, I want to salute the Resources Committee for the hard work that they did to make sure that the Eightmile River plan will now become a reality.

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