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Rep. Napolitano’s Statement on House Passage of WRRDA

May 20, 2014

(Washington, DC) Today, Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (CA-32) released the following statement on the passage of the Final Conference Report of H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA):

“WRRDA is a product of great bipartisan cooperation, and our entire nation will benefit from this important water infrastructure bill. It is a job producer that will be a great asset to agencies in delivering much needed assistance to languishing water projects. Many states whose projects have long been ignored and underfunded will now receive Army Corps assistance.”

“Our region benefits greatly by assistance to the Santa Fe Dam, as well as the nearby Whittier Narrows Dam, the two largest Army Corps reservoirs in Los Angeles County. WRRDA will significantly improve water supply and levee vegetation management in arid regions such as California, increase the ability for local water agencies to accept funding, and protect our water resources from invasive species threats, such as quagga mussels, shore crab, and certain algae. The bill includes better distribution of funds for ports and ensures a greater percentage of money spent by our ports will remain in California, which will be very beneficial to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and allow more goods to come into our region. Thank you Chairwoman Boxer, Chairman Shuster, the rest of my colleagues, and all of our staff for the great bipartisan work in taking this critical step toward fixing our nation’s water infrastructure.”

The Final Conference Report was passed by the House of Representatives today with large bipartisan support by a vote of 412-4 and is expected to be passed by the Senate soon. Napolitano was appointed in November as a conferee for the WRRDA Conference Committee, representing the House Natural Resources Committee. She is also the senior California member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and serves on the Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment. Her full floor statement can be viewed here.

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