At today's Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing
today WRDA was anything but dead. That was the message of the day that Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) wanted everyone to know and her witnesses to say. And as they say in the political world, everyone was on message.
The witnesses--the U.S. Chamber, International Union of Operating Engineers, Cargill, the American Association of Port Authorities, and American Sociaty of Civil Engineers--said for the record why it is
important for Congress to produce water resources legislation. As Ranking Minority Member James Inhofe (R-OK) said in his printed statement, "Our witnesses are here to further demonstrate the case for passing a WRDA bill." And so they did. They talked about infrastructure integrity, jobs, trade, economic growth, competitiveness, etc. There were no hard questions only ones to elicit the single message.
"I hear you," said Chairman Boxer.
Everyone including committee members present talked toward the same goal of producing a WRDA bill to address various economic, infrastructure and public safety needs. One senator noted that the one key witness not present for a hearing on this subject was the Corps of
Engineers, saying that to make the point that significant reforms in the Corps process are needed in the next WRDA. The witnesses also said reforms and process streamlining was needed.
In her opening statement Boxer said "there's no reason
why we can't get WRDA done." She pointed to the bipartisan MAP-21 that the committee produced and now is law. She spoke in
fully bipartisan terms. Pointing to the
labor and business witnesses sitting side-by-side she said that was purposely
done: "I want to make the point
that we are united."
She said the hearing was to lay the groundwork for action in
the lame duck session after the election. She told her colleagues that in the next weeks she will send around a
draft bill and wanted their comments and suggestions. It's going to be a bipartisan and
"strong" bill. Senator Inhofe's statement referred to how the lead senators already are "working hard to negotiate a WRDA bill."
Senator Boxer asked the
witnesses if they would be ready to work to get WRDA done much as stakeholders worked to see MAP-21 made law. They said they will. The supporting
statements of other trade groups were added to the hearing record.
With Congress adjourning in a matter of days, and then returning for what promises to be a highly contentious lame duck session to address the looming "fiscal cliff," the odds are against the Senate taking up a WRDA bill. They are worse still for full congressional approval of a bill. But as Senator David Vitter (R-LA) said after noting it has been five years since WRDA 2007, they should start now even if their efforts have to extend into the new congress.
The hearing statements can be found here.
