Ranking Member Napolitano Calls for Renewed Federal Commitment to Water-Related Infrastructure
(Washington, DC) Today, Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (D-El Monte), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, called for renewed federal commitment to water-related infrastructure at the Subcommittee’s first hearing of the 115th Congress.
“I am pleased that our first hearing focuses on an area where we should find common ground – the need for increased investment in our nation’s water-related infrastructure – especially Federal investment,” Napolitano said in her opening statement. “Whether the issue is crumbling dams and levees, outdated sewers and stormwater conveyances, inefficient navigation corridors, or large-scale ecosystem restoration authorities – I am certain that every member in this room can point to a water-related challenge facing their constituents at home.”
Ranking Member Napolitano welcomed new Subcommittee Chairman, Rep. Garret Graves, and pledged to work together in a bipartisan fashion to assist communities in addressing their local water resources needs and adapting to a changing world. Napolitano also referenced legislation she and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Peter DeFazio will be reintroducing soon, which will reauthorize the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, a fund which President Trump has committed to tripling.
“San Gabriel Valley communities want to do the right thing. They want to provide our citizens with safe, reliable, and affordable water and wastewater services – but they cannot do it alone,” Napolitano continued. “We need to address the very-real affordability concerns raised by our communities in a way that does not weaken Clean Water Act protections, and ensures our neighborhoods have access to clean, safe, and reliable waters, and healthy local environments.”
Napolitano is the highest-ranking California member of the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure where she currently serves as the top Democrat on the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, which oversees EPA’s Clean Water Act and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water programs.
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