Kisatchie National Forest Land Conveyance Act

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on S. 3021.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 3021) to designate the United States courthouse located at 300 South Fourth Street in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as the ``Diana E. Murphy United States Courthouse'', as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of S. 3021, the America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018.

This bill is good for our infrastructure, good for jobs, and good for America. It is a bipartisan, bicameral comprehensive bill that delivers on a promise to regularly address water resources and infrastructure issues across the Nation.

Title I of this act is the Water Resources Development Act of 2018, or WRDA. I want to remind my colleagues that we overwhelmingly passed WRDA in June by a vote of 408-2.

WRDA invests in the ports, locks, and dams, inland waterways, flood protection, and other infrastructure that makes America more competitive and protects our communities. It also builds upon reforms to the Army Corps of Engineers to help improve project delivery.

This bill is fiscally responsible and fully offset. It cuts red tape, and it maintains congressional authority and oversight of Federal investment.

I want to thank Ranking Member DeFazio for working together on the WRDA title. However, today's bill includes more than just WRDA, and I also want to thank the Energy and Commerce Committee, the Natural Resources Committee, and our Senate counterparts for helping put this package together.

I am proud to say today's legislation continues a 2-year cycle of regular order for Congress considering these essential WRDA bills. This has been one of my top priorities since I became chairman over 6 years ago.

We need to pass this bill, continue providing direction to the Corps, and ensure all of these infrastructure improvements move forward.

This is simply good public policy, and it is good for our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to support this jobs and infrastructure bill, and I reserve the balance of my time

Joint Explanatory Statement To Accompany S. 3021, America's Water

Infrastructure Act of 2018

The America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 will create

jobs, grow the economy, promote fiscal responsibility, and

protect lives, property, and the environment.

America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 supports our

nation's economic competitiveness by increasing water

storage, providing protection from dangerous floodwaters,

deepening nationally significant ports, and maintaining the

navigability of inland waterways across the country. The

legislation will also repair aging drinking water, wastewater

and irrigation systems. It also promotes hydropower

development and increases Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission (FERC) transparency.

Title I of this bill, the Water Resources Development Act

(WRDA) of 2018, promotes the Federal commitment to our

nation's competitiveness, prosperity, and economic growth by

maintaining a strong transportation infrastructure, ensuring

the efficient flow of domestic and international commerce,

and protecting the lives and livelihoods of the American

people in a sustainable and environmentally conscientious

manner. In WRDA, Congress authorizes projects encompassing

the key missions of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps),

including developing, maintaining, and supporting the

nation's economically vital waterway infrastructure,

supporting effective and targeted flood protection and

environmental restoration needs while strengthening national

security. Through WRDA, Congress exercises its oversight

authority to make policy reforms that promote efficient,

effective, and transparent project development and

implementation. This legislation promotes innovation and

stronger stakeholder partnerships that will improve water

infrastructure development.

Since 2014, Congress has resumed the regular consideration

of WRDAs, and WRDA 2018 continues the WRDA two-year cycle

that provides appropriate oversight of and policy direction

to the Administration and the Corps.

The transformative nature of the last two WRDA bills has

provided the Corps and the non-Federal sponsors with new

opportunities to advance projects more quickly. As these new

authorities and processes are implemented, the Managers

expect that project delivery will speed up. The Managers also

expect that the provisions put forward in this bill, as well

as the last two WRDA bills, will promote investment in

worthwhile and beneficial water resources development

projects, and enable these projects to move forward.

Water resources projects have historically been rejected

through the use of benefit-cost analyses (BCAs) in the

formulation, evaluation, and budgeting of water resources

development projects. The Managers have been approached by

members and non-Federal project sponsors who have projects

that are authorized, but because of past practices regarding

BCA calculations, non-Federal project sponsors are left

without a clear path forward. This legislation makes clear

the Managers' intent: authorized projects are worthy of

funding.

Specifically, this bill contains provisions that require

the careful study of and reporting on the use and application

of current BCAs. The Managers expect this study to result in

recommendations to improve project transparency and the

taxpayers' return on Federal investment. The bill also

provides additional transparency measures to help non-Federal

project sponsors better understand where their projects are

in the budgeting process, and the calculations used to

justify or reject federal investment in the project. Corps

water resources development projects are long-term

investments which are critically important to maintaining the

nation's economic prosperity, national security, and

environmental protection. The Managers expect the Corps to

proactively work with non-Federal interests to transparently

discuss the principles and analytical methodologies used in

developing BCAs on these projects.

Title II and IV of this legislation builds on the existing

Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act programs to

protect and restore water quality. This legislation provides

Federal financial assistance to local drinking and wastewater

systems to improve water quality and comply with both the

Clean Water and Safe Drinking Water Act's requirements.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

published its sixth national assessment, Drinking Water

Infrastructure Needs Survey, in March 2018. That assessment

estimated the nation's drinking water utilities require

$472.6 billion in infrastructure investments and $271 billion

in wastewater needs over the next 20 years to protect the

public health and ensure the security and economic well-being

of our cities, towns and communities. This bill reauthorizes

the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF),

growing the program over the next three fiscal years to $1.95

billion annually in 2021, nearly doubling the amount

currently authorized. Along with the SRFs, this bill

reauthorizes the Water Infrastructure and Finance Innovation

Act (WIFIA) and a program within WIFIA the Securing Required

Funding for Water Infrastructure Now (SRF WIN). All of these

mechanisms will substantially increase investments toward

addressing this critical need.

Investments in water infrastructure are essential for

protecting public health and the environment, but they also

generate significant economic benefits. The Department of

Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that for

every dollar in revenue realized by the water and wastewater

industry, $2.62 in revenue are realized by all other

industries. Adding one job in the water and wastewater

industry creates an additional 3.68 jobs in the national

economy.

The Managers understand that our nation's ability to

provide clean water and safe drinking water is challenged by

deteriorating wastewater infrastructure that is in urgent

need of repair, replacement, or upgrade. This legislation

takes steps to address these needs through financial support

from grants, state revolving loan funds, innovative financing

mechanisms, the use of funds for compliance assistance, and

the use of technical assistance for disadvantaged

communities.

Title III of this legislation includes several provisions

that promote the development of hydropower through closed-

loop pump storage, in-conduit projects, and at existing non-

powered dams. This legislation also amends the Federal Power

Act to authorize the FERC to issue preliminary permits to a

hydropower construction license applicant for up to four

years, and promote the timely rehabilitation and replacement

of hydropower infrastructure.

Title IV of the bill also addresses the need in many

states, particularly throughout the West, to increase water

supplies necessary to sustain the livelihoods of farming,

ranching, and tribal communities. This legislation also

addresses flood protection concerns in rural and tribal

communities.

Section 1116 directs the Corps to expedite the dredge

material management plan process and make maximum use of

existing information, studies, and innovative dredge material

management practices. It is the Manager's intent that dredged

material management plans begun in 2018, but not completed

shall also be expedited under this provision.

Managers ask that, when a non-Federal entity develops a

reasonable alternative to the Federal standard for dredged

material disposal facilities that meets relevant Federal

environmental and dredged material placement and disposal

standards, it should receive preferred consideration by the

Secretary. Additionally, the Secretary is encouraged to

consider entering into agreements with non-Federal sponsors

for the acquisition, design, construction, management, or

operation and maintenance of dredged material disposal

facilities, including port facilities, through section 217 of

WRDA of 1996.

Section 1126 addresses the concerns that Managers heard

about the regulatory permitting process for water storage

projects is extremely lengthy, in part due to issues

associated with identifying and analyzing the purpose and

need of the project. This section is intended to increase

transparency earlier in the regulatory process by providing

the permittee an opportunity to obtain a project's purpose

and need statement.

For Section 1133, as much as is possible, if the

determination is made that additional housing is warranted,

the purchase of private land shall be avoided.

Section 1134 directs the Corps to implement these sediment

removal provisions in an expeditious manner in order to

restore these reservoirs to their intended storage capacity.

The Managers recognize the importance of water storage

capacity to rural and western communities. Federal reservoirs

have gradually seen a reduction in water storage capacity

associated with sediment buildup to the detriment of farmers,

ranchers, and rural communities.

Managers expect that the final feasibility study for the

project in section 1142 will be carried out expeditiously and

be completed by the anticipated completion date of February

2019.

The Managers intend that section 1143 apply to all projects

authorized by Title VII of WRDA 2007 so that the Secretary

can acknowledge credit for the cost of work carried out in

the coastal Louisiana ecosystem by the non-Federal interest

for elements integral to the project prior to the date of

enactment of WRDA 2018. For example, the ``Multipurpose

Operation of Houma Navigation Lock'' is dependent upon the

adjacent earthen levees (including Reach F and G of the

Morganza to the Gulf of Mexico project) and other structures

(including the Bubba Dove Floodgate and Bayou Grand Calliou

Floodgate). Operating a lock complex without adjacent levees

can significantly reduce the ability to reduce salinity and

to manage and control the fresh water available via the

Atchafalaya River, Gulf Intercoastal Waterway and the Houma

Navigation Canal. In addition, the Bubba Dove Floodgate has

reduced the original wetland impact of the Houma Navigation

Lock and is integral to the lock's design and function.

Section 1203 (f) expedites activities under section 4003(a)

of Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA) 2014.

The Managers understand that these activities have not been

implemented due to a lack of appropriated funds, and

emphasize that the importance of such flood and drought

monitoring to communities in the Upper Missouri River Basin

necessitates that the Corps expedite activities for this

monitoring in order to protect lives and properties in the

region.

The Managers expect section 1229 to be carried out in an

expeditious manner and in accordance with all applicable

Federal and state water laws.

Section 1332 further amends the Annual Report process set

up by section 7001 of

WRRDA 2014. WRDA 2016 changed the process to ensure

individual existing environmental infrastructure projects may

be included in the Annual Report Main Table so that they can

be considered for inclusion in future WRDA bills, and the

amendments in this section clarify that proposed

modifications to existing regional environmental

infrastructure programs are also able to be considered. Such

projects that have previously ended up in the appendix of

these reports, such as Charlotte County, Florida, are

encouraged to reapply.

Similarly, this section amends the criteria by which the

Secretary may select to include a local request in the

appendix to the Annual Report, rather than the Report,

itself. The Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure

and Environment and Public Works have repeatedly criticized

the Secretary for failure to follow the specific criteria

outlined in section 7001(c)(1)(A), and including local

requests in the appendix despite those requests meeting the

statutory criteria. In response, this legislation clarifies

that the Secretary may not include a request that meets the

criteria in 7001(c)(1)(A) in the appendix solely on the basis

that the local request requires legislative changes to an

authorized project or study, or the request may be

inconsistent with Corps or Administration policy. The

Committee is aware of one particular request for a

modification of the Abiquiu Reservoir, New Mexico, that was

placed in the appendix to the 2017 Annual Report to Congress

because of Administration policy. Project sponsors for

similarly situated project or study requests are encouraged

to reapply.

The Managers encourage the Secretary to consider the

benefits of safety modifications for 2-way traffic and other

improvements to commercial navigation when evaluating

authorized navigation studies.

The Managers encourage the Secretary to provide technical

assistance and other support to state emergency management

agencies to assist in the development of handbooks for

floodplain managers. These handbooks should include policies

to help manage the risks of coastal and river flooding. In

addition, these handbooks should consider coastal protection

solutions that promote resilience, such as living shorelines,

as well as regional sediment management. Additionally, non-

Federal entities may provide resources for emergency repairs

under section 1024 of WRRDA 2014 (33 U.S.C. 2325a),

regardless of the cause of the emergency.

The Managers encourage the Corps to proceed with a sense of

urgency when evaluating and programming the actions to

proceed with the water resources projects necessary for flood

control, dam repair, beach erosion control, and harbor

navigation improvement in Puerto Rico, and the repair and

mitigation necessary as a result of the hurricane and severe

weather damages that occurred between September 2017 and

March 2018. Additionally, the Managers encourage the Corps to

advance the project for ecosystem restoration, Cano Martin

Pena, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Managers believe the Secretary should simplify and

expedite the process for including in-kind work in project

partnership agreements, consistent with current law.

The Managers further encourage the Corps to improve

communication with stakeholders and the public regarding the

risk assessments conducted by the agency of the levees around

the country.

The managers believe that the financing of project

operations, maintenance, where the locals are not otherwise

responsible for the project, or capital improvements by local

non-Federal interests can results in savings to Federal

taxpayers.

As the Secretary carries out the operations and maintenance

of our nation's infrastructure, the Managers expect periodic

maintenance dredging of the Kennebec River Federal Navigation

Channel will be prioritized based on a joint plan that is

being developed by the Secretary and the Secretary of the

Navy. Additionally, the managers believe the Corps should

prioritize annual dredging for the harbor in Wilmington,

Delaware.

The Secretary may use his or her authority under section 9

of the Flood Control Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 643, chapter 596)

to remedy the erosion issues on the Ohio River near

Clarksville, Indiana.

Ongoing cooperation between the Louisiana Coastal

Protection and Restoration Authority and the Lafitte Area

Independent Levee District relating to flood protection

projects in Jean Lafitte, Louisiana, and the vicinity should

continue. To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary

should support that cooperation in a manner that is

consistent with Louisiana's Comprehensive Master Plan for a

Sustainable Coast.

The amendment to section 203 of WRDA 1986 (33 U.S.C. 2231)

made by section 1126 of WIIN 2016 (130 Stat. 1648), which

concerns study of water resources development projects by

non-Federal interests, was intended to supersede any

conflicting laws.

As water resources projects are vital to the nation's

competitiveness, the Managers encourage robust annual

funding. The Continuing Authorities Programs should receive

full appropriations each fiscal year. The authorization of

appropriations under section 595(i) of WRDA 1999, for water,

wastewater, environmental restoration and surface water

protection projects in certain rural states should be

robustly maintained.

Section 2005 includes new grant opportunities for states to

assist small and disadvantaged communities when contaminants

are present or are likely to be present in drinking water

provided by a public water system or underground source of

drinking water. The Managers intend this legislation to

assist states with small and disadvantaged communities to

promptly respond to problems that potentially present an

imminent and substantial endangerment.

Section 2010 establishes new authority for states and EPA

to address the challenges of water systems that have

repeatedly violated drinking water standards and pose a risk

to human health. The section includes limited liability

protection for outside entities that help the system come

back into compliance. The Managers do not intend this

legislation to limit enforcement of drinking water violations

not identified in the plan or to diminish the availability of

injunctive relief to address unresolved drinking water

violations.

Section 2021 authorizes EPA, subject to the availability of

appropriated funds carrying out the purposes of the section,

to require drinking water systems serving between 3,300 and

10,000 persons to comply with mandatory unregulated

contaminant testing for up to 30 unregulated contaminants.

The legislation also authorizes $15 million in the years the

monitoring is required to pay costs traditionally associated

with such testing. Systems serving fewer than 3,300 persons

will remain subject to random sampling and have their testing

and mailing costs covered by EPA. Such systems will not be

subject to a civil penalty for their inability to comply with

sampled monitoring.

Title II provides for Drinking Water Improvement. As

Congress reauthorizes the Drinking Water SRF, the managers

strongly support Congress providing robust funding of

capitalization grants to States to fund SDWA SRFs established

under section 1452 of the SDWA (42 U.S.C. 300j-12) and the

CWA SRFs established under title VI of the CWA (33 U.S.C.

1381 et seq.). The managers also encourage the Administrator

to work with the States to realize the full benefits of the

renewed DWSRF authorization amounts.

Section 3003 of this bill authorizes the Commissioner of

the FERC to establish an expedite process for issuing and

amending licenses under the Federal Power Act for qualifying

facilities under that section. The Committee on

Transportation is aware that certain projects owned or

operated by the Corps of Engineers may fall within the scope

of this section. However, nothing in section 3003 provides

new authority to add hydropower to existing non-powered

projects owned or operated by the Corps of Engineers where

hydropower is not specifically an authorized purpose,

established in law, for such projects. The decision and

conditions to add hydropower to an existing, non-powered

project of the Corps rests solely with the Secretary of the

Army, through its existing regulatory authorities, and with

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in the

U.S. House of Representatives and the Committee on

Environment and Public Works in the U.S. Senate, through

enactment of future water resources development legislation.

Section 4102 establishes a Wastewater Technology

Clearinghouse at EPA. Providing communities with the

knowledge and resources necessary to fully use decentralized

wastewater systems can provide affordable wastewater

recycling and treatment to millions of people in the United

States.

Section 4103 provides Technical Assistance for Treatment

Works in the CWA. The Managers recognize the importance of

technical assistance for small, rural, and tribal water

systems. It is the Managers' view that onsite technical

assistance, provides the most effective means for communities

that are struggling to implement the CWA. The Managers also

acknowledge that the use of remote training does not always

provide communities with sufficient assistance to comply with

complicated and system-specific issues.

Section 4201 amends the Water Infrastructure Finance and

Innovation Act (WIFIA) by enhancing the process under WIFIA

for financial assistance to those applying for state loan

funds to carry out water and wastewater infrastructure

projects, the Securing Required Funding for Water

Infrastructure Now (SRF WIN). It allows states that combine

projects and submit one application to the WIFIA program to

receive additional considerations. This section provides

specific selection criteria and expedites the evaluation of

applications of these combined projects to 180 days, with

feedback from the EPA on how to improve their application, if

denied. This section also puts the application fee cost on

the state financing authority and removes the burden from the

bundled communities. It eliminates the need for these

combined projects from having to do any duplicative

environmental reviews and allows for the federal cost share

of the project to cover up to 100% of the total project cost.

These amendments utilize the leveraging power of WIFIA

financing to enhance the ability of the state financing

authorities to provide financial assistance to local

communities. This will allow states to finance thousands of

existing and vetted water and wastewater infrastructure

projects expeditiously.

Section 4301 establishes a mandatory requirement that not

later than one year after the date of enactment of the Act

that the EPA will enter into a memorandum of agreement with

the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) that will establish a

structure for how EPA can provide technical assistance for

any credit instrument that Reclamation may provide now or in

the future.

Section 4302 directs the BOR, working with the Corps to

create a flood action plan. The Managers recognize that 2017

was a record year for runoff in the Upper Snake River Basin,

causing communities in the region to experience significant

flooding. The Managers further recognize that landowners and

stakeholders have serious concerns for how the BOR and the

Corps have managed the spring runoff out of Jackson Lake and

down the Snake River. The Managers seek assurances that the

BOR will work with the Corps to protect communities to

minimize flooding in the region.

Section 4304 establishes a new workforce training program

for workforce development in the water utility sector. The

managers find that water and wastewater utilities provide a

unique opportunity for access to stable, high-quality

careers. This section also establishes a competitive grant

program to promote the development of innovative activities

relating to workforce development in the water utility

sector.

Section 4306 authorizes EPA's WaterSense program, a

voluntary program which identifies and promotes water

efficient products through voluntary labeling, is authorized

by this legislation. The bill requires EPA to review and

revise the program's performance criteria to achieve

additional water savings not more frequently than every 6

years. The Managers expect EPA to conduct these reviews as

required by the section and to review the requirements of the

program and update them as needed and appropriate.

Section 4312 recognizes the rehabilitation and restoration

of Indian irrigation systems owned and operated by the Bureau

of Indian Affairs (BIA) is essential to the success and

livelihood of individuals and businesses across 17

reservations. Congress outlined these objectives in Public

Law 114-322 and established the Indian Irrigation Fund for

the BIA to carry out its trust responsibility for certain

individual Indians and Tribes. This provision authorizes

seven years of additional funding to complete this necessary

rehabilitation, which will ensure the delivery of clean

water, reduce the loss of water through seepage, and improve

the safety of the systems. The Managers believe the

Administration should prioritize the Indian Irrigation Fund

in addressing restoration of these Indian irrigation systems.

The Managers strongly encourage the Administration to fulfill

the objectives outlined in Public Law 114-322.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to say the ranking member is 100 percent correct on his assessment of the harbor maintenance trust fund. I support it. He is absolutely right. I just want to make sure, when he is referring to BS, he is not referring to Bill Shuster.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Walden), the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Graves), chairman of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Graves).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Denham).

Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from California an additional 15 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Woodall), a hardworking member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a member of the Rules Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Mitchell), my good friend and another hardworking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I have three more speakers.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Upton).

Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Mrs. McMorris Rodgers), our conference chair.

Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Bucshon).

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

Madam Speaker, I thank my partner in this, Ranking Member DeFazio, for his efforts on the bill, but also Ranking Member Napolitano and Subcommittee Chair Garret Graves for their great work on this bill.

I thank the entire Republican staff on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The following staff spent hours working on behalf of the Members of Congress to produce this final product:

Ian Bennitt, Elizabeth Fox, John Pawlow, Victor Sarmiento, Peter Como, Geoff Gosselin, Fred Miller, Chris Vieson, Kathy Dedrick, Ryann Seiger, Joe Sheehy, Alex Burkett, Mike Brian, Richard Russell, Brian Clifford, Lizzy Oslen, Pauline Thorndick, Andy Hardy, Craig Thomas, Marry Francis Repko.

John Drake, Andrew Rogers, Chris Baysinger, Mary Martin, Jerry Couri, Mike Bloomquist, Ryan Long, Karen Christian, Brandon Mooney, Annelise Rickerts, Jackie Cohen, Rick Kessler, Jean Fruci, Kakuti Lin, Allison Hartwich, Geoff Antell, Kiel Weaver, Cindy Herrle.

Madam Speaker, I thank the Democratic staff for their partnership in crafting this legislation and now passing on the floor, and, hopefully, ultimately, we get it to the President's desk and signed into law. Thanks to all the folks on the other side of the aisle, the staff, for their willingness and hard work and the effort they put into it.

I want to point out, though, Chris Vieson and Geoff Gosselin, the staff director and deputy staff director, for their great work and leadership on the committee. But also the Water Resources staff, Ian Bennitt, Jon Pawlow, Elizabeth Fox, Victor Sarmiento, and Peter Como for their efforts and long hours that I know they took to put this all together.

And finally, I would just like to say, passing WRDA is personally very gratifying to me. When I became chairman, we had not passed a WRDA bill in 7 years. Prior to that, for over 20 years, WRDA bills were passed every Congress. It was regular order. Today, we will pass the third WRDA bill in three Congresses, and I want to thank the leadership on both sides of the aisle for working with us and helping us to get it to the floor.

I thank all of my colleagues in the House. As I think we maybe said earlier, when we passed it out of the House, it was 408-2, overwhelmingly. And again, I can't thank my colleagues enough for working with me and helping to bring back regular order to WRDA.

I ask all my colleagues to support this bill, and let's move on to the next bill.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I rise today to talk about something that is such an urgent challenge for our Nation and the world; that is, climate change. Over the weekend, we received the most recent and most dire warning of the costs of inaction yesterday when the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its report. It wasn't easy to break through the news in the last week. We all know there was a lot going on, but this one did.

Why did this break through the news? First of all, it was such a comprehensive report. It was a product of 91 scientists from 40 countries. They looked at more than 6,000 studies, and they concluded, absent major changes in our greenhouse gas emissions, the devastating consequences of climate change are coming much sooner than previously expected. I think that is why it made front page news--because of the timeline.

I think a lot of times people think of something that maybe their grandkids or great-grandkids are going to have to deal with, but, no, actually the pages in this room--young people today, people even in my generation--are going to have to be dealing directly with the frontline consequences of climate change.

The report predicted that the atmosphere will warm up by as much as 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial levels by 2040. That is just over 20 years. Think about the pages in this room. Twenty years from now might seem long, but it is not that long at all.

Just 20 years ago, we could see persistent droughts--we are already seeing a number of droughts now--food shortages, worsening wildfires-- think of what we have already seen in Colorado and California on the west coast--and increased coastal flooding, damage that could cost $54 trillion. This is about loss of life, loss of quality of life, and this is about loss of money and loss of people's incomes.

As the authors of the report make clear, it will take immediate action to avoid these catastrophic consequences for our country and our world. First, by 2030, we must reduce greenhouse gas pollution by 45 percent from 2010 levels. Second, by 2050, we must increase our use of renewable energy, such as wind and solar, by as much as 47 percent.

Do you know what? We can do this. If we don't do anything, we are going to face dire consequences.

When I first came to the Senate, we started hearing from military people and from scientists from all over the world about what we could see even in the next 10 years, 20 years, 30 years. So much of that has already come true. Imagine if we do nothing, and we keep on this trajectory.

The American people understand it. I hear about the climate issue everywhere I go in my State--from hunters in Northern Minnesota to people who like to snowmobile and cross-country ski, to business leaders in the Port of Duluth, to students at the University of Minnesota.

Increasingly, warmer temperatures are having dramatic effects all over the northern part of our country. Lyme disease has spread further north. Aspen forests are shrinking. Moose range is declining. There is thirty-seven percent more rainfall as a result of mega rainstorms than we saw 50 years ago. The ragweed pollen season has extended 3 weeks in the Twin Cities in just the past 20 years. Those are facts.

When you think about the effect that has on animals, think about the effect that has on our daily lives, and then think about what would happen if we kept going that way, not just this way but that way in the next 20 years. This is in stark contrast to comments made by some who still suggest the climate change debate isn't settled. I couldn't disagree more.

I know we had a vote in this Chamber where something like 98 or 99 Senators voted that climate change is occurring. There may not be agreement on what we should do about it, but there better be soon.

I am a former prosecutor, so I believe in evidence. As this U.N. report shows us, the facts and the science couldn't be clearer. I suggest that everyone read about it or read summaries, which are easily available. Every week seems to bring fresh evidence of the damage climate change is already causing, and Americans will feel the consequences.

My State may be miles and miles away from rising oceans, but the impacts are not less of a real threat to my State. Climate change isn't just about melting glaciers, although we sure have seen those. Anyone who visits Glacier National Park--I went with my family--can literally see over time, decade by decade, the changes to those glaciers. I once visited Greenland with a number of Senators, including Republican Senators, and you could see what is happening there as major icebergs and parts of their ice sheets are breaking off and disappearing. You can see the physical evidence of this. You can see the photographs of this. It is not just about that.

Recently, we have seen the devastating impact of natural disasters, like Hurricane Florence and the catastrophic flooding this summer throughout Southern Minnesota in Duluth. There may be some political division around climate change; that is putting it mildly. But there isn't any real scientific division because nearly all of the scientists in this world believe this is happening.

I will never forget an episode from the John Oliver show, which is a humorous program to watch, but it brings

real issues to light. To show that kind of scientific division, he decided to have a bunch of scientists on the stage with him. They were wearing their white coats. He had something like 97 or 98 scientists on one side in their white coats and 1 or 2 on the other side. That is the division. It is not real division if you are someone who believes in evidence. Climate change is occurring, and this latest report is from the scientists all over the world who would have no reason to do this except to warn people about the truth. That is why they are doing this.

As citizens, we have an obligation to learn about it, to understand it, and to support ideas that will not hold us back dramatically but will allow us to tackle this head-on. If we don't tackle this issue, we are going to continue to struggle with the far-reaching economic and environmental consequences. This report makes clear that those risks aren't far off in the future for your great-great-great-great-great- great grandchildren; no, they could become a crisis as soon as 2040.

Shifting global trends have the potential to wreak more subtle, long- term havoc on our businesses and industries. That is why so many businesses in my State support doing something about climate change. Sometimes it is because they have customers all over the world--all over the world in areas that are going to be the first hit by tsunamis and other weather events or it is because they simply want to be good corporate citizens or it is because they see their bottom line and how it is going to be affected if we don't do something about this.

The U.N. report details the economic damage that will happen if we fail to act, including losses of roughly 1.2 percent to our gross domestic product for every 1.8 degrees of warning. As it gets hotter, the GDP does go down.

As a Senator from a State with a strong agricultural industry and a tradition of hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, and skiing, climate change is not only a direct threat to our State's economy, it is also a threat to our quality of life, to the way we grew up, to enjoying the outdoors with our friends and our families.

When President Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the international climate change agreement last summer, I heard a lot from people in our State.

As you all know, 195 countries made a pledge to come together to combat climate change, and in withdrawing, the United States was initially one of only three countries that would not be in the agreement. The other two countries that weren't in the agreement were Syria and Nicaragua. Well, now Syria and Nicaragua have signed the accord, so the United States is now the only country not to sign the accord.

Our decision to leave this agreement sent the wrong message to the rest of the world--the wrong message. The lack of leadership has led to other countries discussing backing out of the agreement. That is not leadership. That is not leading from the front. We can't have this happen. America should be leading and helping the world move forward.

By the way, there is such an innovation space here, so much money to be made by responding to this in a smart way and developing new vehicles and developing new energy and new ways to deal with this challenge. It isn't just a challenge; it is also an opportunity. If we don't seize that opportunity by getting our own act together, by admitting that it is a problem and giving incentives to our businesses to go in the right direction and to bring other countries with us, we are going to lose that opportunity to other countries that are part of this international coalition.

I have already talked to people who work in government or who work for businesses that have gone to international meetings and who have said: Do you know what some of these people in other countries say? I think we are going to work with China on this. They are part of that agreement. Hey, we are going to buy our solar panels from them, or we are going to do work with them on this.

You can't hide from the fact that we withdrew from that agreement, and it hurts not just our environment, it hurts our economic opportunities going forward.

Look at Minnesota and what has happened because we were out front on this. I am proud that our State has taken an incredibly proactive and innovative approach to energy use and sustainability, which is critical to addressing carbon emissions. Our State's renewable energy standard requires that 25 percent of our electricity come from renewable sources by 2025. We passed that way back in 2007 with--get this--a Republican Governor, Governor Pawlenty. He helped lead the way on that and worked with the legislature of Democrats and Republicans to pass what was at the time seen as a very aggressive standard. We did it by combining it with doing something about biofuels--something that is important not just in Minnesota but in the Presiding Officer's State of North Dakota.

We were able to put together that kind of coalition--the leaders in our legislature and the Governor, farmers and workers, environmentalists--to move forward on biofuels so we would have diversity in our fuel supply as well as diversity in our energy supply. So we don't rely on just one type of energy, and we reduce greenhouse gases by having an ``all of the above'' energy approach.

The legislation back then in 2007 received overwhelming bipartisan support, passing the Minnesota House 123 to 10 and the Minnesota Senate 63 to 3. It has been a while since we have reached that kind of consensus on the Federal level when it comes to energy.

What has happened? We have more than met those goals. What has happened nationally? Well, there was progress made during the Obama administration. When I first got here in 2007, I personally thought that we should move to some kind of a renewable electricity standard for the whole country, maybe making differences by geographic areas and regions. Sadly, the decision was not made to go that way. I think we lost it by one vote. We lost it by one vote. Instead, the decision was made on one side that we wanted to be more aggressive--and we tried with cap and trade, but that didn't end up getting passed in the Senate--and then on the other side, to kind of say: Well, let's just see what happens. As a result, in my mind, we have not done nearly enough.

What has happened instead? Well, the States, our laboratories of democracy, have moved ahead--many of them, like Minnesota--and are coming up with their own standards or doing it by region. Our universities have moved ahead, our cities have moved ahead, and our businesses have moved ahead. By 2015, 154 companies, including companies I am very proud of--major companies in my State, such as Target, Best Buy, General Mills, and Cargill--had signed a pledge demonstrating their support for action on climate change that takes a strong step toward a low-carbon, sustainable future. These companies collectively employ more than 9 million people and represent more than $3 trillion in annual revenue.

Last month at the Alliance to Save Energy gala, I got to present an Energy Efficiency Award to Target because of the work they have done with sustainability and righting the impacts of climate change. They have created an electric car program that is up and running in 5 States, and they plan to expand that number to 20 in the next 2 years. They signed a virtual power purchase agreement with the Stephens Ranch wind farm in Texas as part of their goal of sourcing 100 percent renewable energy in their U.S. operations. Like so many companies in the United States, they have started a major solar program and are committed to establishing rooftop solar panels on 500 of their stores by 2020. As of last year, they had already finished 436 of their projects.

They are not alone. Xcel Energy, Minnesota's largest utility, was an early supporter of the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan.

If we had allowed that to go through and had that in place, imagine what a better position we would be in when we read headlines like those from this morning about the U.N.'s report and the dire predictions of what we are going to see in 20 years. But, no, we are in what I consider a state of paralysis. Maybe we are not making things worse, although when we took away those gas mileage standards--when the administration went back on that--we made them worse. We sure aren't making them better. Thanks to cities and

States, we are making progress, but we should be doing this together as a nation.

Xcel Energy is another example of a company that appears to be ahead of the Federal Government. They supported the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan and announced plans to reduce carbon emissions by 60 percent in the next 15 years.

I look at it this way: If companies like Target and Xcel Energy understand the need to reduce our use of fossil fuels and embrace the energy of the future, then so should Members of Congress, and so should this administration.

We know that energy innovation can't take root--not in any serious way--without certainty and stability on what those incentives are. That is what that Clean Power Plan was about. It took what I considered a more moderate route than some people thought it was going to take, but then it got pulled back by this administration. It is very hard to start planning for the future if we don't have a route for these companies to go. The rest of the world is getting on board. We don't want to be following; we want to be leading in America.

As this week's report made clear, inaction is not an option for our economy, for our environment, for our country, or for the world. Military and security experts have repeatedly reminded us that climate change is a threat to our national security, increasing risks of conflict, humanitarian crisis, and damage to critical infrastructure.

We see the stories of some of the refugees who are not coming up from conflict but are coming up from parts of Africa where they used to do subsistence farming but can no longer do that kind of subsistence farming because it is too dry, there are too many droughts, and the world has changed. We are going to see these humongous movements of people because they can't live where they used to live.

It is much better for us if we take this on as a world and do something about it than deal with the repercussions of it--more severe weather, heat waves that could reduce our water supply, extreme rainfall that could damage critical infrastructure, and a decrease in agricultural productivity that could threaten my State's $20 billion agricultural industry. People around the country understand the stakes, but this place--I think it needs just a little more imagination.

If you ever visit my office, I have a picture on the wall, and it is a picture of an angel, and she is handing off the world to some outstretched hands. The words on the picture read: ``The angel shrugged, and she said, `If we fail this time, it will be a failure of imagination.' '' That is what we need right now in Washington, DC-- imagination to deal with a very clear threat that the scientists have put right in front of us. Twenty years from now, it is going to be worse than those wildfires we see raging in California and Colorado. Twenty years from now, it is going to be worse than what we are seeing when it comes to the hurricanes and the tsunamis and all of the icebergs melting and what we are seeing in our national parks. Why would we just let this happen? We are America. We are leaders. It is time to act.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I rise to speak about the Water Resources Development Act, the cloture motion of which we will be voting on very shortly. I strongly support moving forward with this legislation, and I encourage this body's support of that important work.

I begin by thanking Chairman Barrasso, Ranking Member Carper, and Senator Inhofe for their great work on this bill. On the Environment and Public Works Committee, we have the leadership of Senator Barrasso and Senator Carper, and on the subcommittee that deals with infrastructure, I work with Senator Inhofe. The four of us have worked very closely in, I think, the best traditions of the Environment and Public Works Committee in the U.S. Senate in order to bring forward legislation that really does represent the priorities of all 100 Members of the U.S. Senate.

From the beginning, I acknowledge the amount of work that was done in order to accomplish this. It was done in great measure by incredibly gifted staff people who have been working for a long period of time in order to bring this bill to completion. Obviously, there are rough edges, and there are problems that require a lot of negotiations. Yet I know that Senator Barrasso, Senator Carper, and Senator Inhofe will agree with me about the importance of our staffs' work.

I acknowledge Mae Stevens of my staff for the work she has done on this legislation to advance the priorities that are important for the people of Maryland and to make sure we have a well-balanced bill for our country.

As I think my colleagues know, the focal point of my environmental work has been to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay, which is considered to be one of America's greatest natural resources and is a national treasure. The Chesapeake Bay is the Nation's largest estuary. It generates $1 trillion in economic benefit to the watershed region. The Chesapeake Bay is critically important with regard to who we are as a region, our quality of life, our economy, and because of its rich environmental treasures.

The shoreline of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries stretch over 2,000 miles. More than 100,000 streams and rivers and thousands of acres of wetlands provide the freshwater that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. If we do not protect the health of this incredible network of waters, we cannot hope to restore the Chesapeake Bay to its former glory.

Additionally, the effort to clean up and restore the bay creates new jobs and economic growth opportunities around the bay States. For example, work to repair and upgrade our urban and suburban wastewater and stormwater systems puts people to work as engineers and operators, and there are so many more jobs that are created.

Although we are making great strides in improving the quality of the Chesapeake Bay--I am very pleased of the progress we have made, and I think you see that when you visit the Inner Harbor of Baltimore or our shorelines--we still have a long way to go.

America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 supports the health of the Chesapeake Bay. In doing so, it helps our Nation's economic competitiveness, our environment, and the health and welfare of our citizens. In particular, I am pleased that America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 will help both Poplar Island and the Mid-Bay project to continue what is a win-win for both the Baltimore Harbor and the Chesapeake Bay. Both of these projects are located in the State of Maryland. Both are critically important for us to maintain the environment and economy of the Chesapeake Bay.

I have seen firsthand the results of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' efforts around the State. The Corps' ingenuity and expertise have spearheaded the replenishing and expansion of Poplar Island in the Chesapeake Bay. This massive sustainability project is quite literally bringing life to our region in its restoration of a habitat which for years suffered from erosion and environmental degradation.

We are taking Poplar Island, which used to exist in the Chesapeake Bay but had been down to just a few acres, and restoring it in an environmental restoration project. We are bringing back wildlife and species diversification into the Chesapeake Bay. At the same time, it is a location for dredged materials. I can tell you, in my having been in Congress, it is not always easy to find locations to put dredged materials. Poplar Island is also popular with the community, so it has been a win-win-win situation.

The expansion of the island now to 1,715 acres has the long-term benefit of creating a place for our native plants and animals to thrive and the short-term benefit of efficiently utilizing dredged materials from the maintenance of the Port of Baltimore to rebuild the island beyond its original footprint. We are now back up to over 1,700 acres from just the few acres that existed not too many years ago. This creates a system that helps to improve the vitality of both our treasured ecosystem and our commercial waterways, and it sets a precedent for beneficial practices in the future.

The Army Corps has collaborated with Federal and State agencies, local communities, and businesses for input on this project, ensuring that its benefits will extend to all within the region.

The Mid-Bay Project is a continuation of the very successful Poplar Island project, and I am pleased that both projects are supported in this bill. Poplar Island will reach its capacity in the next few years, which is what we planned on. Yet, in order to make sure we have another site that is available, we have to move that project now so that the planning process can be completed in time and engineering work can be completed in time so that there is no loss of activity in keeping the harbors at the needed dredge levels for shipping and have a site where the dredged material can be located. That is why it is so critically important to move forward with Mid-Bay now.

We need policies that will keep up with the demand of our infrastructure backlog while we address the needs of our communities and our environment. We can and we must do both. I am pleased that America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 would help projects in the Anacostia River watershed in Prince George's County get off the ground.

This is the third WRDA bill in a row. Congress is including updates to our Nation's drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure, including much needed funding.

The American Society of Civil Engineers has yet again given our drinking water and wastewater a grade of D for 2016. States will need $32.75 billion a year every year for the next 20 years just to get our infrastructure in working order, which is more than $1 trillion. Yet we are currently only spending about $2 billion per year on both the clean water and drinking water State revolving funds combined. Every community--urban, rural, and suburban neighborhoods--has a right to expect that water that comes from its tap is safe to drink and that Congress will do everything within its power to ensure that it happens. Clean water means good jobs and better health throughout Maryland and our Nation.

Clean water is not a partisan issue, and I have been proud to work with my colleagues to develop legislation that will benefit our aging water resources and infrastructure. Congress has the responsibility to be a strong partner with States and localities to repair our Nation's hidden water infrastructure and open waterways and to always remain unwavering in our commitment to improve the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

One of the problems is that a lot of our water infrastructure is hidden. You don't see it, but you sure do notice it if you don't get clean water to drink, and you sure notice it when it affects the water quality of the bay or of other critical waters in this country. We really need to pay attention to this. We need to increase our capacity to be a partner in modernizing our water infrastructure, and this legislation absolutely takes a major step forward in carrying out that commitment.

Let me talk about some of the specific provisions that are included in this act.

First, the bill includes S. 1137, the Clean Safe Reliable Water Infrastructure Act, which was introduced by me and Senators Boozman, Inhofe, and Duckworth. It addresses the need to invest in our Nation's drinking water, sewer, and stormwater systems, and it provides for increased water efficiency.

The Clean Safe Reliable Water Infrastructure Act specifically includes $450 million to protect the sources of our drinking water and the funding to repair and eliminate combined sewer overflows, which dump water sewage into our Nation's waterways every time it rains. This is especially timely as the Mid-Atlantic region has seen historic precipitation events increasingly in the last decade. These 100- or 1,000-year events cause wastewater treatment plants to take on more water than they can handle. Millions of gallons of untreated water are diverted into our local waterways--the same water that supplies our drinking water and the fish, crabs, and oysters that Marylanders love to eat.

In fact, there was a storm so massive in Frederick, MD, just a few months ago that city officials asked residents to stop using the water in order to prevent equipment failure at the wastewater treatment plant. This is a crisis situation. This $450 million will go far toward helping to divert stormwater away from the wastewater treatment plant in Frederick as well as those like it all over the State of Maryland and our Nation.

The Clean Safe Reliable Water Infrastructure Act also formally authorizes the voluntary WaterSense Program, which identifies and promotes water-efficient products through voluntary labeling. The WaterSense label makes it simple to find water-efficient products, new homes, and programs that meet the EPA's criteria for efficiency and performance. WaterSense-labeled products and services are certified to use at least 20-percent less water, save energy, and perform as well as or better than regular models. The program should help individuals reduce their water demand while protecting water quality. This benefits all of us, as we save water, we save energy, and we save costs.

The EPA's WaterSense Program partners with manufacturers, retailers, distributors, home builders, irrigation professionals, and utilities to bring efficient products and services to our communities, and their partnerships encourage innovation in manufacturing and support sustainable jobs for American workers.

Secondly, the WRDA bill creates a multi-agency Federal task force to study the problem of funding and financing stormwater infrastructure. The task force will, with the feedback from State and local governments and other program stakeholders, provide in a report to Congress suggestions for improving the funding and financing of stormwater systems--especially important as Maryland sees more frequent and severe storms, like the deadly floods in Ellicott City that were 22 months apart.

I have already spoken on the Senate floor about what happened in Ellicott City, MD. Within 20 months, we had two 1,000-year floods. These floods were unprecedented. What do I mean by that? We have had flooding in Ellicott City before because the water rises in the river that goes through Ellicott City. These are the first floods we have had as a result of the stormwater runoff that literally ran down the main streets of Ellicott City. It destroyed homes and cost people their lives.

We need to deal with this. Stormwater pollution is not only an urgent and deadly threat but a long-term one as well. Stormwater pollution is the fastest growing source of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay. Yes, we talk about our farmers, and we have to do better for our farmers. We talk about the other problems we have, including the airborne pollutants that go into the Bay. But the fastest growing source in the Chesapeake Bay is storm runoff, which is a result of more people

living in the community, a result of more concrete, and a result of more severe weather events.

Third, the bill addresses the need for information about onsite wastewater recycling as one alternative for communities that cannot afford the upfront costs or ongoing maintenance costs of traditional wastewater infrastructure. This is especially important in the rural parts of my State, like Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Fourth, the bill includes S. 451, the Water Resources Research Amendments Act, introduced by me and Senator Boozman, which addresses the need for additional research into increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of new and existing water treatment works. Funding from this program helps to support the Maryland Water Resources Research Center and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. We want to add the latest technology. We want to be the best in the world, as far as technology, when dealing with our water. This particular provision in the bill will help us achieve those objectives.

Fifth, the bill reauthorizes WIFIA, a low-cost financing mechanism for water infrastructure projects. We first started with WIFIA in our transportation bill, coming out of our Environment and Public Works Committee, where we found creative ways in order to leverage the Federal participation so we can have larger infrastructure projects for roads, transit, and bridges. Now we are doing the same with water infrastructure. This bill reauthorizes the WIFIA program.

Baltimore is on the list to receive one of the very first low- interest WIFIA loans. Baltimore's $200 million loan will complete a set of projects to repair, rehabilitate, replace, and upgrade its wastewater collection and treatment, water treatment and distribution, and storm water management systems.

These projects will help to improve the city's sanitary sewer collection system, ensure the reliability and performance of the drinking water and wastewater systems, and improve storm water management to meet Clean Water Act permit requirements.

This will help the 1.8 million people served by the Baltimore Department of Public Works to continue to have some of the cleanest, safest, and most reliable drinking water in the country. There is no more fundamental responsibility of government than to make sure they provide safe drinking water to its population.

Sixth, this bill creates the Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Program, from a bill that I have long championed to help drinking water plants combat the effects of climate change. This program will award grants to increase the resiliency and adaptability of water systems to increasingly severe storms and droughts, as well as sea level rise--all caused by climate change.

Water utilities can use the grants to assist in the planning, design, construction, implementation, operation, or maintenance of the plant-- really, anything they need to increase their climate preparedness.

I applaud the great work that has been accomplished through this legislation, and I look forward to continuing the work to advance water infrastructure investment, including integrated planning and affordability.

From the very beginning, I said that this was a bill that was done in the right process in the Senate. Input was solicited from every Member of the Senate. The committee reached out to all of the Members. All the members of our committee have had input into this legislation. It is bipartisan. It is fiscally responsible, which was a key requirement of the bill.

It will benefit of our communities. It will help us to meet our fundamental commitment to provide the citizens of this Nation with clean and safe drinking water. It will deal with the challenges we have in storm runoff, as it deals with environmental challenges we have. It is a well-balanced bill.

Once again, I applaud the leadership of Senators Barrasso and Carper and my colleague on the subcommittee, Senator Inhofe, for their tremendous work.

I look forward to voting for this bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, in a few minutes, hopefully, the Senate will vote to invoke cloture on the motion to concur on the America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018. In preparing to take this vote, I want to remind our colleagues why this bill is so important not just for our country's economy but for our environment as well.

The Senator from Wyoming, Mr. Barrasso, will mention shortly that this is a comprehensive bill that supports the Army Corps of Engineers. It supports EPA's drinking water and wastewater programs. It authorizes the Corps to construct, modify, study, and expedite more than 100 water resource development projects. It prepares our country's water infrastructure for extreme weather events to avoid devastation caused by storms like Hurricane Florence by reauthorizing levee and dam safety programs through 2023.

It also establishes programs to make communities more resistant to sea level rise. It reauthorizes, for the first time in 22 years, the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund, which provides for needed investments in water and sanitation infrastructure all across our country.

This bill would also nearly double the size of this critical loan program from $1 billion to almost $2 billion by 2021. It expands the existing $60 million annual small and disadvantaged communities program to allow for the testing and treatment of contamination in drinking water systems. It provides schools with the resources needed to address lead contamination.

This bipartisan bill is a major win for families across the country. It passed both the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House unanimously, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to vote yes on this cloture motion.

Before I yield, I just want to say to my friend Senator Barrasso how proud I have been to work with him. Our staffs are really a model of the way this place should work. We worked well not only with our colleagues on our committee and outside of our committee but also with the folks over in the House of Representatives. I will talk about them later today. To my chairman, it is a real pleasure to work with you on this one.

Mr. President, I rise today, along with the chairman, Senator Barrasso, to further discuss the important piece of infrastructure legislation that he has outlined that will positively affect the States of every Member of this body. I want to encourage each of our colleagues to support it.

Over the course of August and early September, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee reached an agreement with our counterparts in the House to advance America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018.

Our chairman, John Barrasso, and I coauthored this bill and did so with the help of the majority and minority staffs of the Environment and Public Works Committee over the better part of this past year. I want to take a moment to thank our chairman, as I have earlier, for his leadership. I want to thank the chairman and ranking member of the Infrastructure Subcommittee of EPW, Jim Inhofe and Ben Cardin, for their leadership in producing this critical bipartisan legislation.

I want to thank the members of their staffs and especially the majority and minority member EPW staffs, without whose help this bill would not be before us today. Collectively, you have done a terrific job. I am proud of you. As we say in the Navy, Bravo Zulu, which means ``well done.''

As some of you may recall, the Senate's version of the bill was reported out of the Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously a few months back. On September 13, the bill passed the House of Representatives unanimously on a voice vote.

People back home say to me: Why can't you just work together? Well, in this case, we have, and I think the results speak for themselves. I am hopeful and encouraged that this bill will receive the same strong support in the Senate this week.

In a Congress and a country that are all too often divided, it is refreshing to me and I think to others as well that we have been able to come together to authorize water infrastructure and drinking water programs that are both vital and critical to the American people's way of life.

America's Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 is a win-win for our Nation's economy and for our environment. This bill should serve as a model for how we can get meaningful legislation done in Congress, and I hope it will serve as a model.

This legislation supports the ongoing work of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It does so by reauthorizing the Corps' program for flood control, for beach and shoreline maintenance, and for the maintenance of inland and coastal waterways through which the goods that enter and depart from American ports travel.

The Corps' Civil Works Program is our Nation's largest and I believe the world's biggest water resources undertaking. This program addresses a wide variety of priorities, including ship navigability; flood risk management; beach and shoreline protection; renewable energy, such as hydropower; water supply; and environmental restoration and stewardship. In fact, over 99 percent of U.S. overseas trade moves through the waterways which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for maintaining. Think of that--99 percent.

In fact, this bill supports the Corps' operation and maintenance of 13,000 miles of commercial deep-draft ship channels and 12,000 miles of commercial inland waterways. These ports and waterways serve a combined 40 States and transport much of our country's waterborne cargo.

The new authorizations that this bill provides are critically needed. Much of the infrastructure that the Corps is responsible for across the country now exceeds its useful lifespan. As a result, we have an enormous construction backlog of needed infrastructure investments. The latest estimates from the Army Corps indicate that the overall construction backlog is in the neighborhood of $96 billion, while the annual budget of the Army Corps hovers around $4.6 billion. Think of that--$96 billion on the one hand and $4.6 billion on the other hand. Those two numbers reflect the extraordinary challenge the Army Corps faces--a challenge we begin to address with this legislation. This bill addresses that backlog by providing new tools that will allow the government to partner with the Corps and leverage existing resources to make sure we get the most bang for our buck.

This legislation also increases local participation, transparency, and accountability in developing the Army Corps' annual budget. It is my hope that enhanced local participation will allow for a more transparent and long-term look at the Corps' activities and help build a greater groundswell of support for increased appropriations to fund the agency's initiatives.

The measure before us also authorizes critical Corps of Engineers disaster programs. When disaster strikes, the Federal Government often steps in and helps, as it did last year in Puerto Rico, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and this year in the Carolinas. A large part of that help is provided by the Army Corps of Engineers--something that may come as a surprise to Americans who don't realize the critical role the Corps plays in responding to all sorts of emergencies.

In addition, this bill includes new authorities to help protect communities and ecosystems in coastal States like Delaware and Maryland and States across our country from some of the worst impacts of extreme weather events. This measure includes provisions that allow communities to recover more quickly, too, when disaster does strike and facilitates rebuilding facilities in ways that are more resilient to future storms.

This legislation also makes key changes in emergency response, post- disaster recovery, and resiliency efforts so that the Army Corps thinks long-term instead of short-term when it selects solutions that it will implement. But the bill goes even further. It enables the Corps to pursue the best possible solutions to make communities more resistant to storm damage, whether those solutions are a traditionally constructed levee or a natural alternative, like the reconstructed dunes we are using along the Delaware coast and other places too.

Earlier this year, NOAA announced that the total cost for extreme weather and climate events in 2017 exceeded $300 billion. That is a new U.S. annual record--$300 billion in 1 year, last year. It is not a matter of if the next extreme weather event is coming, it is a matter of when. As storm events, such as Hurricane Florence, grow more powerful and prevalent, threatening American lives and infrastructure, the passage of this bill--a bill that will help protect coastal communities from the risk of flooding--has never been more important.

In addition to strengthening key Corps programs, this bill also addresses key programs at EPA for major drinking water and wastewater needs across our country. For the first time in over 20 years, this bill reauthorizes the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund, too. That program provides Federal assistance to help communities with clean drinking water. It does so through no-interest, low-interest, and

forgivable loans that help communities in a variety of ways gain access to capital that would otherwise be unavailable. It is my hope that one day we can eventually add grants back into this program for communities that need the help the most, but that is probably a longer conversation somewhere down the line.

The ongoing crisis in Flint that we are now seeing play out in far too many communities across our country is tragic but avoidable if we invest in water infrastructure more wisely. This bill makes it clear that we have learned our lesson, and we are beginning to take some steps to address this enormous challenge.

Some of our colleagues may recall that earlier this year Senator Duckworth and I hosted a drinking water roundtable here on Capitol Hill. The image of her holding up in her hand a baby bottle with formula made from contaminated drinking water is an image that is hard for me to forget.

This bill authorizes more resources for EPA to make sure that every parent, no matter what their ZIP Code is, where they live, can be confident that the water coming out of the tap at home or at their children's school is safe for their kids to drink. Toward that end, this legislation not only reauthorizes the safe drinking water revolving loan program, it nearly doubles its funding. By fiscal year 2021, the program will grow from the current authorization of $1 billion to almost $2 billion.

Perhaps most notably, especially in light of the avoidable devastation and tragedy we saw in the wake of Hurricanes Maria and Harvey, this bill authorizes $100 million to repair drinking water systems damaged by storms and creates a new program that helps protect drinking water systems from extreme weather events.

This legislation allows States that detect contaminants in drinking water to provide assistance to residents who depend on private water wells. This provision should matter to every Member of Congress whose residents rely significantly on wells for their water consumption needs, and we have them in every single State across America. I don't know about other States, but one in six Delawareans depends on private wells for their drinking water. It is not fair that if contaminants end up in their water through no fault of the resident, the resident has to find a way to rectify that situation on their own. Without this bill, these taxpayers get no support, and that is not right.

This bill goes way beyond addressing emergency situations. It provides a framework for updating and expanding water infrastructure systems throughout our country at both the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers.

As I mentioned earlier, the bill authorizes $50 million for technical assistance to help schools and daycare centers deal with lead contamination in their drinking water and another $5 million per year in grants for modernizing, testing, and replacing the lead components that are causing the water contamination. This provision is going to be particularly helpful in places like Chicago and Baltimore, where there are schools operating with no usable drinking water fountains.

Oftentimes, our water infrastructure is the forgotten leg of the infrastructure stool. We rightly worry about the infrastructure we can see, such as bridges, highways, airports, and railroads, but our water infrastructure--our pipes, shipping channels, flood control structures; the infrastructure we don't see but rely on every day--is also in desperate need of investment in many parts of America.

Before I yield the floor today, I want to again thank our chairman, Senator Barrasso, and our Senators from Maryland and Oklahoma who are the cochairs of the Infrastructure Subcommittee of Environment and Public Works and other members of our committee and frankly those who are not fortunate enough to serve on our committee. I thank them for their hard work throughout this process.

I thank our colleagues over in the House--Congressmen Shuster, DeFazio, Walden, and Pallone--who were great partners of ours. When we work together as Democrats and Republicans in both Chambers, we are stronger, and when we are stronger here, we are stronger across our country.

Finally, I thank the Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, R.D. James, who has made this legislation a priority for the Army Corps and for the administration. He and his team worked with us to craft a bill that I think we can all be proud of, and I am.

I want to mention again that as smart as John Barrasso and I and the other Senators who serve on our committee and here in the Senate are, this bill wouldn't be before us if we didn't have some very smart people on our staffs. One is sitting right here next to me today, and some others are standing behind me. I see over on the Republican majority side some terrific members of staff who work under the leadership of our chairman. I want to take a moment to take my hat off--I wish I were wearing my hat. If I were, I would take it off to all of you, as well.

Let me end today with an African proverb that I think is particularly relevant. It goes something like this: If you want to go fast, travel alone. If you want to go far, travel together.

By working together, we crafted legislation that is both substantive and needed. This proposal stands as a timely example of how we can set aside our differences and get meaningful work done for the people who sent us here and expected us to accomplish really important things like this on their behalf.

The underlying bill before us is one that delivers a lot of good to the American people. At the same time, it represents good public policy that is fiscally responsible. It is deserving of the support of our colleagues in the Senate. I hope they will join us in supporting its passage.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, while it is perhaps not in line with official and genuine Senate protocol, I also want to use this opportunity to congratulate my good friend in the Chair on the wonderful events of last weekend for his family.

Mr. President, I have come to the floor to discuss my colleague Senator

Baldwin's resolution that would protect the millions of Americans in Wisconsin and Oregon and all across the land who are faced with preexisting health conditions.

This has been an area I have focused on since my days as codirector of the Oregon Gray Panthers because preexisting conditions is kind of fancy lingo that people talk about as it relates to healthcare policy, but really what it is all about is, if you have cancer or diabetes or heart disease or asthma or any one of a score of healthcare conditions, before the Affordable Care Act, you were just in a world of hurt, literally and figuratively. In effect, the healthcare system then was for the healthy and the wealthy. If you were healthy, there was nothing to worry about--no preexisting condition. If you were wealthy, you just paid the bills, but if you had preexisting conditions, as millions and millions of Americans have, then you were really out of luck.

So then, along came the Affordable Care Act. I had written a piece of legislation, the Healthy Americans Act, with seven Democrats and seven Republicans as cosponsors. It had airtight, loophole-free protection for Americans against discrimination if they had preexisting conditions. That provision from the Healthy Americans Act, to a very great extent, made its way into the Affordable Care Act. That is why millions of Americans were able to go to bed at night with a sense of comfort and a sense that if they did have healthcare conditions, the insurance companies wouldn't be able to just clobber them with higher costs. Unfortunately, we have the Trump administration's wanting to bring back the days when healthcare was for the healthy and wealthy and allow discrimination against people with preexisting conditions.

The flip side of the preexisting condition coin is junk insurance-- selling junk insurance that really isn't worth a whole lot more than the paper it is written on. Boy, do I know something about junk insurance because that is how I started my time in public service, when senior citizens were sold 15 to 20 policies. Again, the rip-offs were built in. Back then, if you had one policy and you had another policy that offered similar coverage, they canceled each other out, and the senior got nothing. It was junk insurance. If we go back to the days when they discriminated against people with preexisting conditions, we are going to have junk insurance all over again.

I am going to begin with the Trump administration's record on this.

First of all, if you are a scam artist who is peddling junk plans, the Trump administration has your back. If you are a person with a preexisting condition, the Trump administration is advancing policies that will make both your health and your wallet in far worse shape. Now, the Trump officials get up and talk about the benefits of short- term plans. They will use buzz words like ``flexibility'' and ``patient-centered care,'' but I want everybody to be clear that it is junk insurance, plain and simple. It is putting a whole lot of lipstick on a frog.

These junk insurance plans the Trump administration has revived represent the very worst of industry tricks and abuses. They punish Americans who really need healthcare. If you are young, if you are healthy, and if you are wealthy, as I have said, there is nothing to worry about. With junk plans, you have a glide path to put scams on those with preexisting conditions like heart disease, cancer, and mental illness. They exist to prey on older Americans--on women, on the less fortunate--particularly a group that I have thought was the heart of where healthcare reform ought to go--to the folks between 55 and 65.

As I have indicated, junk plans are not new. Congress and the American people have rejected them before. I mentioned my history with the Oregon Gray Panthers. Big, thick stacks of legalese that nobody could understand were always hyped to the seniors. They were going to fill the gaps in Medicare. It was called Medigap. Back then, it was really just A and B. It didn't have D and Medicare Advantage and all kinds of other things. It was just A and B.

You had seniors frightened that the gaps in Medicare were going to consume any savings they might have. So every time a fast-talking salesperson came through, a senior would buy a policy. When I was the director of the Gray Panthers, it was common to go to seniors' homes, and they would actually go to a closet and pull out a shoebox full of these worthless policies. I really fear we are looking at going back to those days.

The fact is that Congress finally cracked down on those Medigap rip- offs. I had an opportunity to be a part of that effort as a Member of the other body, the House, but a lot of people got hurt in the process.

Junk insurance was not just a problem for seniors. A few years ago, the Affordable Care Act was designed, as I mentioned, in terms of the Healthy Americans Act, to make sure that junk insurance would be eliminated across the board. Across the board, we would say in our country, we are going to have ironclad, loophole-free guarantees that no American would ever face discrimination over a preexisting condition.

By the way, that used to be a bipartisan proposition. The fact is that still serving in this body are a number of my colleagues on the Republican side who are cosponsors of the Healthy Americans Act, with that ironclad, loophole-free protection for those with preexisting conditions. So it is not as if somebody just kind of brought this up as a partisan issue. It was bipartisan then. Republican Members of this body, distinguished colleagues, were cosponsors of that Healthy Americans Act proposition. Now the Trump administration is trying to turn back the clock. It wants to make junk plans great again--a forced march back to those days that I described that were only for the healthy and the wealthy.

The open enrollment plan for health insurance is coming up very quickly. The Trump administration has cut it in half so that it is going to last only a few weeks this year. That means, during the holidays, when Americans are traveling, shopping, and spending time with family, they will also have to make some judgments about health insurance. Because of the Trump administration's actions, these junk insurance policies are going to be peddled at the same time as insurance that would actually cover, meaningfully, the healthcare that our people need.

What they are going to be doing with these Trump changes is making life easy for the scam artists but a nightmare for so many Americans who, day in and day out, walk an economic tightrope just trying to pay for essentials. These rip-off artists under the Trump plan are going to have a green light to steal the money Americans pay in premiums and for other expenses. According to a recent study, sometimes as much as $2 out of every $3 is wasted on overhead with these administrative costs and junk insurance profits in these flawed policies that the Trump administration wants to foist off on Americans.

The disastrous effects of junk insurance aren't limited to those who get conned into buying it. By bringing junk plans back, the Trump administration, in effect, goes out and swings a wrecking ball into the private health insurance markets in our country. It raises costs across the board, and Americans waste their hard-earned dollars.

Senator Baldwin has a resolution, and I commend my colleague from Wisconsin on her effort on this. She came and talked with me about this early on, as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee. We have jurisdiction over something like $1 trillion worth of health spending. I really appreciate the expertise and the passion that Senator Baldwin has brought to this issue, and we saw it in her very first presentation on what she wanted to do. Her resolution is the Senate's best opportunity to put a stop to the scams that I have described. It would throw the Trump administration's junk insurance rules out, and with Senator Baldwin's proposal, it would restore the protections that millions of Americans count on each day.

The Democrats in the Senate are going to stand up for Americans with preexisting conditions, and I hope colleagues on the other side will join us. I recognize that the Trump administration will not, but my hope is that we will have colleagues on the other side supporting us for Senator Baldwin's resolution.

In addition, as if this were not enough of an injury foisted on vulnerable Americans, the Trump administration has put forward a nominee for a seat on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals who made healthcare sabotage one of his top priorities at the Trump Justice Department. Chad Readler, currently the Deputy Assistant Attorney General, in my view, is the wrong choice to be a Federal judge.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration decided it just wanted to get out of the business of enforcing the rules that protect Americans with preexisting conditions. In fact, it had to argue in court that it could abandon that essential part of the Affordable Care Act, which was still the law of the land the last time I looked. Who did the administration turn to when it needed to cook up a dubious legal argument that it had no obligation to enforce the law of the land? Chad Readler. In fact, three career attorneys from the Department of Justice looked at his argument, and they actually withdrew from the case. Three career lawyers from the Department of Justice refused to participate.

The Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Mr. Readler's nomination earlier this month. His nomination could be sent to the floor of the Senate in the coming weeks, but it ought to be clear that this is a nominee who is not an impartial individual who has the judicial temperament Americans expect. He is not somebody who ought to be handed a seat on the Federal bench and have the power to sign off on the Trump administration's agenda of healthcare sabotage.

I close with this. The Senate has an opportunity to stand up this week for the millions of vulnerable Americans who have these preexisting conditions, for the millions of Americans who under the Affordable Care Act can go to bed at night knowing that if they have preexisting conditions, they are not going to lose everything. I am serious when I talk about losing everything. Once you go back to discriminating against people with preexisting conditions, you are going to go back to job lock and all of the problems we saw associated with discrimination. If you were in Montana or if you were in Oregon and had a preexisting condition and you got offered a better job on the other side of town, you couldn't go get it because you would not be able to get coverage because there was discrimination against people with preexisting conditions.

This week the Senate is going to have an opportunity to stand up to the Trump administration and go to bat for the millions and millions of Americans who are watching this debate who have preexisting conditions and who are just counting on this body not to turn back the clock and leave them vulnerable again. Senator Baldwin's resolution would prevent the Trump administration from bringing back the worst abuses of junk insurance. If it doesn't pass this week, this will be an issue that, in my view, will come up again and again and again until it is fixed.

Finally, the Readler nomination, in my view, ought to be stopped in its tracks. The Senate ought to tell the administration that it is not going to rubberstamp judicial nominees who have proven, demonstrable track records of twisting the law in a way that harms the most vulnerable of our citizens.

I note that the majority leader is here.

I yield the floor.