Washington, D.C. — The following are opening remarks, as prepared for delivery, from Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Vice Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Hillary Scholten (D-MI) during today’s hearing titled, “Proposals for a Water Resources Development Act of 2026 – Administration Priorities.”
Video of Ranking Member Larsen’s and Vice Ranking Member Scholten’s statements is here and here.
More information on the hearing can be found here.
Ranking Member Larsen:
Thank you, Chairman Collins and Vice Ranking Member Scholten, for holding this hearing.
Welcome back, Assistant Secretary Telle and Lieutenant General Graham. Thank you for being here this morning.
Since 2014, this Committee has honored its commitment to meet local water resources needs across the country through the bipartisan and biennial enactment of Water Resources Development Acts (WRDAs).
Predictable WRDAs support Corps projects while creating good-paying jobs in the construction industry and supporting countless more jobs in the U.S. industries and businesses that benefit directly from these projects.
Regular enactment of WRDAs also provides critical policy reforms that improve the function and flexibility of the Corps to respond to local challenges.
Failure to implement WRDA on time results in delays and denies critical economic, environmental and societal benefits to communities across the country.
Each presidential administration wants to put its own mark on management of federal agencies—and based on your ideas for reducing paperwork at the Corps, we are starting to understand your priorities.
However, no administration gets to ignore the law and to manage federal agencies as they please, untethered from their legal obligations mandated by Congress.
For example, as of yesterday, this administration has formally implemented only three provisions from the Water Resources Development Act of 2024, enacted in January of 2025.
Three provisions.
This means that the bipartisan benefits enacted by an overwhelming majority of Republican and Democratic members of the House and Senate are not reaching their communities.
Failure to implement WRDA 2024 denies our country the benefits of the 21 Chief’s Reports it authorized—benefits such as upgraded navigation, flood risk reduction and storm protection projects, as well as ecological restoration and the societal benefits associated with these projects.
Failure to implement WRDA 2024 means that small, rural, Tribal, and other communities will continue to struggle to meet local challenges as these projects remain unaffordable.
Failure to implement WRDA 2024 increases the vulnerability of America’s navigational capacity—both through its coastal and inland ports—as well as the vulnerability of communities to the challenges of climate change and drought.
This administration needs to do better.
At today’s hearing, I expect to hear that you recognize Congress as an essential partner in directing and scoping how the Corps implements its missions.
I also expect to hear that you will work diligently to make sure that every enacted provision of existing WRDAs is fully implemented in a timely fashion and that you will provide this Committee with periodic updates on your progress.
This Committee recently closed its member portal that contains roughly 2,400 project, policy and environmental infrastructure requests for the upcoming WRDA 2026.
Based on our member requests, my top-line priorities for WRDA26 will be:
- Ensuring that the next generation of local water resources projects and studies is authorized;
- Ensuring that all communities, including rural, small and Tribal communities, can affordably partner with the Corps to resolve local challenges; and
- Ensuring that all Corps projects are designed to meet the challenges of climate change and make communities more resilient to stronger storms, rising sea-levels and severe droughts.
I look forward to today’s testimony and my continued partnership with Chairman Graves, Chairman Collins, Ranking Member Wilson and Vice Ranking Member Scholten to develop this bill in our traditional bipartisan fashion.
Representative Scholten:
Thank you, Chair Collins, and welcome to our witnesses. Thank you for your commitment to working with the Committee as we develop what I hope will be a bipartisan, robust Water Resources Development Act of 2026.
At a time when the affordability crisis is affecting every corner of our country and communities are navigating the threats of climate change, it is incumbent on Congress to prioritize keeping water resource projects affordable and resilient.
Back home in West Michigan, water is a way of life, and our waterways are critical to our regional economies and culture. A strong WRDA is absolutely critical for Congress to meet our local communities’ economic and environmental needs.
Passing WRDA 2026 is the first step towards granting the Army Corps the authority they need to carry out water resource projects and studies.
However, we need the funding to back up our action.
It was devastating to see that the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget request proposed a nearly 25 percent slash to the Corps’ budget.
Fortunately, Congress rejected this funding cut; but, we still need to meaningfully address the Corps’ backlog of WRDA project and maintenance needs, currently estimated to be over $100 billion.
The Trump Administration has also been less than diligent about the law regarding harbor maintenance trust fund (HMTF) investments. Our ports are critical to our local economies as well as our national supply chains.
Time is not on our side: the longer we wait, the more expensive these projects will become and our ports may start to fall behind. Failing to meaningfully invest in port and harbor maintenance and upgrades will threaten job growth, reliable supply chains, and global competitiveness.
We also need full cooperation from our Corps partners to navigate the inherently collaborative effort of a new WRDA. That’s why it is so frustrating that the Administration has decided that the Corps needs the Department of Defense’s approval before district offices can share project details and updates with Congressional offices.
We cannot allow partisanship and bureaucracy to undercut this process, and I encourage the Administration to reverse this policy so Congress can best serve the American people.
As we look ahead to WRDA 2026, this subcommittee will still be keeping the pressure on you two, our Corps Leaders, to promptly and effectively implement previous WRDA policies.
We have yet to see guidance on dozens of critical provisions, such as to reduce cost share for communities in need; to utilize new Continuing Authority Programs; to address dredging needs in smaller communities; and to maximize opportunities for water supply and conservation where possible.
This is unacceptable; the Corps must implement the law and hold up its end of the bargain to best safeguard our water resources.
I hope our conversation today will include ideas and solutions on what the Corps needs to execute past WRDAs, as well as how we can work together to continue to deliver for Americans across the nation through this year’s new legislation.
Thank you, I yield back.