Washington, D.C. – Today, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Rick Larsen (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management Dina Titus (D-NV) and Representative Val Hoyle (D-OR) issued the following statements after the House of Representatives passed the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024.
“In the Pacific Northwest and across the country, investments in ports, harbors and inland waterways support good-paying jobs and are key to long-term economic growth, which is why I applaud today’s passage of the Water Resources Development of 2024,” Ranking Member Larsen said. “WRDA 2024 creates good-paying jobs across the country by building on our Committee’s bipartisan tradition to improve our nation’s water resources. This legislation also includes provisions to grow the economy and create jobs by reauthorizing the Economic Development Administration, improving operations of the General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service and redistributing $1.8 billion in unused funding from the Department of Transportation’s TIFIA program to local transportation projects. T&I Democrats remain focused on delivering good-paying jobs and safer, cleaner, greener and more accessible transportation for all Americans.”
“WRDA is our legislative commitment to investing in and protecting our communities from flooding and droughts, restoring our environment and ecosystems, and keeping our nation’s competitiveness by supporting our ports and harbors. I am particularly thankful that we were able to include in this WRDA policies to improve upon and address the needs of water supply. We have seen the need for the Corps to play a bigger role in water supply, especially in drought prone regions such as the West. Also this year, the Corps finally funded the donor port provisions of WRDA 2020 in their Work Plan, and WRDA 2024 provides oversight over the Corps to ensure they continue this funding which is incredibly important to our local ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach,” Ranking Member Napolitano said. “We took input from over 300 Members of Congress who improved this bill with their insights into the needs of their communities, and we could not have compiled this finished product without the Corps leadership and staff, the remarkable team at legislative counsel, and the brilliant Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee staff. I thank Chairman Rouzer, Ranking Member Larsen, Chairman Graves, and all Members of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee for their partnership in helping deliver a sixth consecutive WRDA for the nation.”
Along with WRDA 2024, this legislation includes provisions to:
- Reauthorize and modernize the Economic Development Administration to improve economic development and create jobs for communities across the country.
- Redistribute unused funding under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program to support local transportation projects across the country.
- Increase the use of federally owned office space and strengthen Congressional oversight of federal real estate projects.
“I am proud to have helped negotiate this package to reauthorize the Economic Development Administration and recognize the importance of tourism and outdoor recreation for economic development, in addition to investing in critical water infrastructure programs, including an extension of the Las Vegas Wash program which is essential for returning water to Lake Mead as our region battles historic drought," Ranking Member Titus said. “Furthermore, I fought to include provisions related to our federal real estate portfolio which will ensure tax dollars from District One are being spent responsibly and with greater transparency.”
This week, Congress also passed the Promoting Opportunities to Widen Electrical Resilience (POWER) Act, which was introduced by Rep. Hoyle (D-OR) and passed the Committee earlier this year. The POWER Act will provide more eligibility and flexibility for public power utilities to invest in long-term hazard mitigation and grid resilience solutions that will improve infrastructure nationwide after natural disaster strikes.
“As weather events become increasingly severe and common, we must do more to better prepare for the next disaster,” Representative Hoyle said. “My bill gives electric utilities more tools to rebuild for resilience after a major disaster, reducing the risk of future power outages that harm public safety and local economies. I’d like to thank Representative Ezell for his partnership, and I will work with my Senate colleagues to get this bill signed into law.”
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