Concurrent Resolution On The Budget, Fiscal Year 2016 -- Continued
Floor Speech
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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I support the Stabenow amendment. Ranchers and property owners in rural America think the EPA is out of control. I agree. It is right to rein in the EPA and restore current protections and exemptions for rural America.
A key area where the Stabenow amendment falls short is excluding cities, suburbs, and the job-creating businesses and working families that reside outside of rural America.
My amendment, which will be next, addresses concerns raised by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties, which want certainty regarding the EPA's power grab.
The Senator from Michigan does things to protect farmers and ranchers from the EPA. My amendment is supported by the American Farm Bureau. This support is because my amendment is specific and holds the EPA and the Corps to the promises they have already made.
I thank the Chair
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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise in support of my amendment No. 347, an amendment to hold the EPA and the Army Corps to their word about the scope of their proposed waters of the United States rule. The administration says there is a lot of misunderstanding with their proposed waters of the United States regulation and what it covers.
Time and time again, we have heard from the EPA and the Corps that this rule would not cover things such as puddles, rainwater, snowmelt, and irrigation ditches. The Barrasso amendment would help to make sure this rule is crystal clear by listing out those things the EPA and the Corps have indicated or led folks to believe would not be covered under the rule.
So if you believe the waters of the United States rule does not go far enough, that the Federal Government should be in the business of regulating puddles in our constituents' backyards, then vote against my amendment. That is what voting against my amendment would mean. That is why I urge a ``yes'' vote on this amendment to protect the waters of the United States.
I ask for the yeas and nays.
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