Authorizing Early Repayment of Construction Cost to Bureau of Reclamation

Floor Speech

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Mr. DAINES. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

H.R. 4562, sponsored by the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Smith), allows farmers to repay accelerated or lump sums of capital debt owed to the Bureau of Reclamation.

In many cases throughout the West, current Federal law does not allow landowners to make such early repayments on Federal irrigation projects. These outdated Federal hurdles are similar to a bank prohibiting a homeowner from paying his or her mortgage early.

Congressman Smith's bill removes the Federal Bureau of Reclamation repayment prohibition for individual landowners within the Northport Irrigation District. In return for such payments, these farmers will no longer be subject to the acreage limitations and the paperwork requirements in the Reclamation Reform Act.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, this bill could generate up to $440,000 in Federal revenue. The bill is based on two recent precedents that passed in both Republican- and Democrat-controlled houses, and today, we should continue those efforts by adopting this bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. DAINES. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge approval of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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