Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. LYNCH. First of all, I want to thank the chairman, the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey, and also Ms. Kaptur from Ohio, the ranking member, for the great work they've done.

In spite of the fact that many Members are coming up with refining amendments, I do want to acknowledge the great work they've done, for example, on the manufacturing piece that's in this bill as well as the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, which has been amply funded and is so important to a lot of the coastal communities. Myself representing the Port of Boston and a large swath of the South Shore of Massachusetts--some beautiful cities and towns--I do appreciate the work that they've done. However, there does appear to be a gap in funding with respect to the Army Corps of Engineers.

The purpose of my amendment would be to increase funding to the Construction account for the Army Corps of Engineers by $20 million. This increase would, of course, be offset by decreasing the Fossil Fuel Research account by a corresponding amount.

I am fortunate to represent a district that relies heavily and benefits greatly from the proximity to the coast, and I have wonderful, historic, beautiful towns and cities, like Quincy, Weymouth, Hull, Cohasset, Hingham, and Scituate, that, as I say, are benefiting greatly because they're on the coast. They house commercial fishing fleets and host wonderful beaches and marinas, and they are vital components of our Statewide economy and regional economy. But while these benefits are there, they are also exposed to the most recent violent coastal storms that have become increasingly devastating in recent years.

Like many of my colleagues, I have seen firsthand the devastating effects that these much more intense storms have had on our communities--beaches erode, and roadways and bridges get washed away. In our case, we have not been hit as hard as places like the district of the gentleman from Louisiana or New Jersey or New York with the Superstorm Sandy effects, but much of our seawall infrastructure and protection for our beaches have been damaged considerably. We've benefited from prior Congresses that have made sure that the funding and the maintenance have been there to preserve that protection, and we are at that point again.

It seems like we are having 100-year storms every 3 or 4 years now in my district, and I'm sure it's like that in a lot of places across the country. I think it's entirely appropriate that we balance this out, that we rebalance the priorities here, by putting $20 million into the Construction account for the Army Corps of Engineers while we are removing a corresponding amount from the Fossil Fuel Research account. I think that most of us realize that the impacts of climate change are at least increasing the intensity of the storms that we've seen in recent years, and we need to provide the Army Corps of Engineers in our communities with the resources they need to protect against these natural disasters. I believe my offset does that in a fitting way.

Like President Obama, I think we need an all-of-the-above energy policy. I'm not here today to debate the cause of global warming or of climate change, but temperatures and sea levels are rising, and fossil fuel consumption is a contributing factor. So, as long as we are forced to rely on fossil fuels, we need to also deal with the fallout from our own energy policies. We need to protect our coastal communities from future devastation.

For these reasons, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlelady for yielding, and I appreciate her gracious remarks.

I do want to point out, though, that, since 2010, we've cut $688 million from this account. Now, we all have great respect and admiration for the Army Corps of Engineers, but having cut $688 million since 2010 has been reducing their ability to prioritize those projects around the country that need to be worked on. Some of those are Democratic districts, and some of those are Republican districts. That's not what this is about. This is about our infrastructure. So a $688 million cut since 2010 is a serious obstruction for them to do their job, and that's all I'm asking here.

I'm asking that we recognize our responsibility and our stewardship of protecting seawalls and ports and marinas, whether they're on the Great Lakes or whether they're on the Atlantic or Pacific coast. I am just asking that we step up and meet our responsibility in a meaningful way.

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