Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. KIND asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Madam Speaker, I want to, first of all, thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Pombo), the Chair of the Committee on Resources, and the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), the ranking member, including their entire staff for the help and assistance that they provided in this legislation. It is a bill that has received wide bipartisan support. In fact, it passed the House last year. We were unable to get it on the unanimous consent calendar in the Senate; so we are back here today to move the process along. But it is a process that has been in the works for quite a few years, Madam Speaker.

I have been fortunate enough to spend nearly my entire life alongside one of the greatest national treasures that exists in this great country, the Mississippi River Basin. Like so many others, I grew up enjoying the diverse recreational activities: swimming, boating, fishing, hunting along the river's shore. It was a true Tom Sawyer type of childhood. In fact, it is the background or context to a couple of the greatest American novels written in American literature by Mark Twain, ``The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' and ``The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.''

As a young boy, though, back in the 1960s growing up, I noticed some problems that the river basin was having. Going to some of my favorite swimming beaches, they would be closed from time to time because of high bacteria count; or going to some of my favorite fishing holes, there would be signs posted warning not to eat the fish that we were catching from the river because of high mercury count. And as a young boy growing up and seeing that, I knew something was not right.

A lot of progress has, however, been made in regards to the health and sustainability of the Mississippi River Basin. With the passage of the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, significant progress has been made. But it is still an incredible national treasure and ecosystem that faces many challenges. In fact, if one were to consult with most river basin experts, they will tell them that the greatest challenge that the basin faces today is the amount of sediments and nutrients flowing into the river basin, affecting the quality of the water supply, destroying the natural habitat, filling in the back bays.

Why is this important? It is, first and foremost, the primary drinking source for over 22 million Americans who rely on the river basin and the river's tributaries for their water needs. It is also

North America's largest migratory route with over 40 percent of water fowl species using the Mississippi River Basin as the main corridor during their migration route in the spring and fall every year. It also is a multifaceted, multiuse river system with incredible economic advantages, given the commercial navigation that takes place on the river, hundreds of millions of tons of product, a lot of it agricultural product, on barges being used to transport the product to market. It has just in the upper Mississippi River Basin alone a $1.2 billion recreation impact for the communities within the basin, a $6.6 billion tourism impact. This year we are going to be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Refuge System.

The Upper Mississippi River Wildlife Refuge is the largest refuge system in the entire country. In fact, most people are surprised to learn that we have more visitors to the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Refuge than they have in the entire Yellowstone National Park System every year.

Farmers rely on the health and sustainability of the river basin. That is one of the reasons we have the fertile farmlands in middle America today. Yet every year our farmers are losing topsoil; they are losing over $300 million worth of applied nitrogen that ultimately flows into the river basin and has an ecosystem impact on it. That is what we are trying to correct with this legislation, Madam Speaker.

H.R. 961 authorizes the U.S. Geological Survey to coordinate and integrate Federal, State, and local government agencies' efforts, develop guidelines for data collection and storage, and establish an electronic database system to store and disseminate the information. USGS would also establish a state-of-the-art computer modeling program to identify significant nutrient and sediment sources at the subwatershed level to better target reduction efforts. H.R. 961 includes strong protections for the privacy of personal data collected and used in the monitoring and modeling of activities.

Input from farmers, the navigation industry, sporting groups, environmental organizations, government agencies, was solicited and used for this legislation.

The legislation also fits with the recommendations of the Mississippi River Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force for reducing, mitigating and controlling the hypoxia problem in the Gulf of Mexico. It was a report that was formally submitted to the Congress for our consideration in January of 2001, and many of the recommendations and proposals contained in this legislation tracks those recommendations significantly with the task force and the work that they had done.

Amazingly enough, in the course of our work and putting this legislation together, I discovered that there were also 77 nonpublic private entities doing some form of water quality testing along the Mississippi River Basin. Unfortunately, because the data was not standardized, it was not being collected and it was not being pooled in order to get the complete snapshot of what was happening throughout the river basin.

What this legislation will do is try to coordinate those levels, from the public sector to the private sector, giving USGS the lead, given their expertise in doing a lot of the water quality and modeling and monitoring that they are already involved in, but to expand it, so we have a complete scientific picture of what is taking place in this valuable ecosystem, so we will know how better to direct the limited resources that we have to optimize the programs that exist, or perhaps create some new programs in order to accomplish the ultimate reduction in the flow of sediments and nutrients that affect the river system.

In the Upper Mississippi alone, in order to maintain the navigable channels for commercial navigation, we are spending over $100 million a year just in dredging costs. So I think there is a significant budgetary impact by getting the science right and getting it in place so that we can reduce that sediment and, therefore, hopefully also have an opportunity of reducing the cost of dredging to maintain the important commercial navigation that exists along the river.

We have worked very closely with the five States in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. In fact, the governors recently submitted a letter to the administration and the Congress basically calling for this type of scientific, comprehensive approach in dealing with the nutrient and sediment flows that affect their regions. That is what we are trying to accomplish here.

Madam Speaker, obviously with this personal background and experience and the work I have done on the river basin, I feel a certain individual responsibility to try to provide some focus on this incredibly important national treasure that we have in the Mississippi River Basin, a treasure that I feel has gone neglected for too long.

One of my first goals in coming to the United States Congress was to help form a bipartisan Mississippi River Caucus between the North and the South so we can get together from time to time and discuss the issues that affect our specific geographic areas, but also how we share this one continuous ecosystem and what we can do, working together, to better preserve and protect it and make sure it is sustainable, so not only can we use it, but our children and grandchildren will be able to benefit from its use.

So I thank the members on the Mississippi River Caucus for the support that they gave to this legislation. All of them were original cosponsors of the bill.

I want to especially thank the co-chairs of the Upper Mississippi River Caucus, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Costello), the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Leach) and the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Gutknecht), who I have worked closely with on this legislation, for the help and support they have given, as well as the cochairs of the overall Mississippi River Caucus, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Hulshof) and the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Boswell). I thank them for their support of this legislation.

In addition, I want to thank Holly Stoerker of the Upper Mississippi River Basin Association, Doug Daigle of the Mississippi River Basin Alliance, Dr. Jerry Schnoor of the University of Iowa, and especially Dr. Barry Drazkowski and the administration and staff at St. Mary's University in Minnesota. Their expertise and work was essential in crafting this legislation, and I am very thankful for their assistance.

Also greatly appreciated is the tireless work of Allen Hance of the Northeast Midwest Institute and former Sea Grant fellows in my office, Jeff Stein, Ed Buckner, Laura Cimo and currently Melissa Woods, who consulted with stakeholders throughout the region. Their efforts were essential in shaping and reshaping this legislation into a focused, effective bill with broad support.

I also want to especially pay particular thanks to some staff members who have given a couple quarts of their own blood in order to reach the consensus that we have established with this bill, namely Brad Pfaff, Ben Proctor and Darrin Schrader, with the countless hours they put in crafting this important piece of legislation. Finally, I want to thank the members of my Mississippi River Advisory Group back home for their help and input throughout the process.

H.R. 961 represents a commonsense move toward building the scientific foundation necessary to remedy nutrient and sediment problems in the region. I believe this is a needed, cost-effective step in preserving the upper Mississippi River Basin and its multi-use heritage for future generations. I also believe it could provide a wonderful model for similar types of scientific modeling and monitoring efforts in other river basins and watershed areas throughout the entire country.

So, I again thank my colleague for his support of the legislation. It has wide bipartisan support, and I would encourage its passage today.

Madam Speaker, I yield back balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, May 19, 2004. The purpose of this meeting will be to mark up legislation to reauthorize child nutrition programs.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on May 19, 2004, at 8:30 a.m., in open session, to continue to receive testimony on allegations of mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, May 19, 2004, at 10:00 a.m. to conduct a hearing on ``Congressional Oversight of the IMF and World Bank.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Wednesday, May 19, 2004, at 9:30 a.m. on from public service to private sector: Spinning the Revolving Door for Personal Gain.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, May 19 at 11:30 a.m., to consider pending calendar business.

Agenda

Agenda Item 1: S. 155--A bill to convey to the town of Frannie, WY, certain land withdrawn by the Commissioner of Reclamation.

Agenda Item 2: S. 180--A bill to establish the National Aviation Heritage Area, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 3: S. 203--A bill to open certain withdrawn land in Big Horn County, WY, to locatable mineral development and bentonite mining.

Agenda Item 4: S. 211--A bill to establish the Northern Rio Grande National Heritage Area in the State of New Mexico, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 5: S. 323--A bill to establish the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, LA.

Agenda Item 9: S. 1241--A bill to establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site in the State of New York, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 13: S. 1467--A bill to establish the Rio Grande Outstanding Natural Area in the State of Colorado, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 14: S. 1521--A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to the Edward H. McDaniel American Legion Post 22 in Phrump, NV, for the construction of a post building and memorial park for use by the American Legion, other veterans' groups, and the local community.

Agenda Item 16: S. 1727--A bill to authorize additional appropriations for the Reclamation Safety of Dams Act of 1978.

Agenda Item 17: S. 2046--A bill to authorize the exchange of certain land in Everglades National Park.

Agenda Item 18: S. 2052--A bill to amend the National Trails System Act to designate El Camino Real de los Tejas as a National Historic Trail.

Agenda Item 20: S. 2180--A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to exchange certain lands in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests in the State of Colorado.

Agenda Item 21: S. 2319--A bill to authorize and facilitate hydroelectric power licensing of the Tapoco Project.

Agenda Item 23: H.R. 961--To promote Department of the Interior efforts to provide a scientific basis for the management of sediment and nutrient loss in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 25: H.R. 1446--To support the efforts of the California Missions Foundation to restore and repair the Spanish colonial and mission-era missions in the State of California and to preserve the artworks and artifacts of these missions, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 26: H.R. 1658--To amend the Railroad Right-of-Way Conveyance Validation Act to validate additional conveyances of certain lands in the State of California that form part of the right-of-way granted by the United States to facilitate the construction of the transcontinental railway, and for other purposes.

In addition, the committee may turn to any other measures that are ready for consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Wednesday, May 19, 2004, at 10 a.m., in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building, to hear testimony on Oversight and Nomination Hearing: The Treasury Department and Terrorism Financing; and, to consider the nominations of John O. Colvin, to be Judge of the U.S. Tax Court; Juan C. Zarate, to be Assistant Secretary for Terrorism Finance, U.S. Department of the Treasury; and, Stuart Levey to the Under Secretary for Enforcement, U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 at 9:30 a.m. to hold a hearing on Iraq's Transition--The Way Ahead (Part II).

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, May 19, 2004, at 10 a.m. in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a business meeting on S.J. Res. 37, resolution to acknowledge a long history of official depredations and ill-conceived polices by the United States Government regarding Indian Tribes and offer an apology to all Native peoples on behalf of the United States, and S. 2277, a bill to amend the Act of November 2, 1966 (80 Stat. 1112) to allow binding arbitration clauses to be included in all contracts affecting the land within the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Reservation; to be followed immediately by a hearing on S. 1696, a bill to amend the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to provide further self government by Indian tribes.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Special

Committee on Aging be authorized to meet Wednesday, May 19, 2004 from 2:30 p.m.-5 p.m. in Dirksen 628 for the purpose of conducting a hearing.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the subcommittee on Water and Power of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, May 19th, at 2:30 p.m.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on S. 900, a bill to convey the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project, the savage unit of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, and the Intake Irrigation Project to the pertinent irrigation districts; S. 1876, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain lands and facilities of the Provo River Project; S. 1957, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to cooperate with the States on the border with Mexico and other appropriate entities in conducting a hydrogeologic characterization, mapping, and modeling program for priority transboundary aquifers, and for other purposes; S. 2304 and H.R. 3209, bills to amend the Reclamation Project Authorization Act of 1972 to clarify the acreage for which the North Loup division is authorized to provide irrigation water under the Missouri River Basin Project; S. 2243, a bill to extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project in the State of Alaska; H.R. 1648, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain water distribution systems of the Cachuma Project, California, to the Carpinteria Valley water district and the Montecito water district; and H.R. 1732, a bill to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the Williamson County, TX, Water Recycling and Reuse Project, and for other purposes.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 23, 2003, at 11 a.m., in open session to consider the nomination of the Honorable Gordon R. England to be Secretary of the Navy.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 23, 2003, at 10 a.m. to conduct a hearing on ``The Implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Restoring Investor Confidence.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 23, 2003, at 2 p.m., to conduct a markup of the following original legislation: the ``National Consumer Credit Reporting System Improvement Act of 2003''; the ``Defense Production Reauthorization Act of 2003''; and the ``Federal Transit Extension Act of 2003.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet on Tuesday, September 23 at 9 a.m. to conduct a business meeting to consider the TEA-21 extension and to conduct a hearing immediately following the markup to consider the nomination of Michael O. Leavitt, to be Administrator of the Environment Protection Agency.

The business meeting and the hearing will take place in SD-406 (Hearing Room).

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Tuesday, September 23, 2003, at 10 a.m., to hear testimony on ``Unfulfilled Promises: Mexican Barrier to U.S. Agricultural Exports.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 23, 2003 at 2:30 p.m. to hold a hearing on Iraq: Next Steps

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet on Tuesday, September 23, 2003, at 9:30 a.m. for a classified hearing titled ``Combating Terrorist Financing: Are We on the Right Track?''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet for a hearing on Health Technology during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 23, 2003 at 10 a.m. in SD-430.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 23, 2003, for a hearing on proposals to limit eligibility for veterans' compensation benefits to disabilities directly related to ``performance of duty'' injuries only.

The hearing will take place in room 418 of the Russell Senate Office Building at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Special Committee on Aging be authorized to meet on Tuesday, September 23, 2003 from 9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. in Dirksen 628 for the purpose of conducting a hearing.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on ``Information Sharing and Coordination for Visa Issuance: Our first line of defense for homeland security'' on Tuesday, September 23, 2003, at 2:30 p.m., in SD226.

witness list

Panel I: Maura Harty, Assistant Secretary for Consular

Affairs, Department of State, Washington, D.C.; C. Stewart

Verdery, Jr., Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning,

Border and Transportation Security, Department of Homeland

Security, Arlington, Virginia.

Panel II: John O. Brennan, Director, Terrorist Threat

Integration Center (TTIC), Office of the Director of Central

Intelligence, McLean, Virginia; Larry A. Mefford, Executive

Assistant Director, Counter-terrorism and Counter-

intelligence, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of

Justice, Washington, D.C.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Tuesday, September 23, at 2:30 p.m.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on S. 213, a bill to clear title to certain real property in New Mexico associated with the middle Rio Grande Project, and for other purposes; S. 1236, a bill directing the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to control or eradicate Tamarisk in the western United States, and for other purposes; S. 1516, a bill to further the purposes of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 by directing the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to carry out an assessment and demonstration program to assess potential increases in water availability for Bureau of Reclamation projects and other uses through control of salt cedar and Russian olive; H.R. 856, a bill authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to revise a repayment contract with the Tom Green county water control and improvement district No. 1 San Angelo Project, Texas, and for other purposes; and H.R. 961, a bill to promote Department of the of the Interior efforts to provide a scientific basis for the management of sediment and nutrient loss in the upper Mississippi River Basin, and for other purposes. (Contact: Shelly Randel 202-224-7933, Erik Webb 202-224-4756 or Meghan Beal at 202-224-7556).

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that the hearing before the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on September 18, at 2:30 p.m. has been rescheduled.

The hearing will now be held on Tuesday, September 23, at 2:30 p.m. in Room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on S. 213, a bill to clear title to certain real property in New Mexico associated with the Middle Rio Grande Project, and for other purposes; S. 1236, a bill directing the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to control or eradicate Tamarisk in the Western United States, and for other purposes; S. 1516, a bill to further the purposes of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 by directing the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to carry out an assessment and demonstration program to assess potential increases in water availability for Bureau of Reclamation projects and other uses through control of salt cedar and Russian olive; H.R. 856, a bill authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to revise a repayment contract with the Tom Green County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1, San Angelo project, Texas, and for other purposes; and H.R. 961, a bill to promote Department of the Interior efforts to provide a scientific basis for the management of sediment and nutrient loss in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, and for other purposes. (Contact: Shelly Randel 202-224-7933, Erik Webb 202-224-4756 or Meghan Beal at 202-224- 7556).

Because of the limited time available for the hearings, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record should send two copies of their testimony to the Subcommittee on Water and Power, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510- 6150.

committee on indian affairs

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Subcommittee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The hearing will be held on Thursday, September 18, at 2:30 p.m. in Room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on S. 213, a bill to clear title to certain real property in New Mexico associated with the Middle Rio Grande Project, and for other purposes; S. 1236, a bill directing the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to control or eradicate Tamarisk in the Western United States, and for other purposes; S. 1516, a bill to further the purposes of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 by directing the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to carry out an assessment and demonstration program to assess potential increases in water availability for Bureau of Reclamation projects and other uses through control of salt cedar and Russian olive; H.R. 856, a bill authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to revise a repayment contract with the Tom Green County Water Control and Improvement District No. 1, San Angelo project, TX, and for other purposes; and H.R. 961, a bill to promote Department of the Interior efforts to provide a scientific basis for the management of sediment and nutrient loss in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, and for other purposes. Contact: Shelly Randel 202-224-7933, Erik Webb 202-224-4756 or Meghan Beal at 202-224-7556.

Because of the limited time available for the hearings, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record should send two copies of their testimony to the Subcommittee on Water and Power, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510-6150.