Washington, D.C. - Today, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously approved S.601, the Water Resources Development Act of 2013. The bill provides critical flood protection for communities across the country, maintains the flow of commerce, and will create up to 500,000 new jobs. There was strong bipartisan support in the Committee for S. 601 and that vote signals support for passage by the full Senate. The legislation is cosponsored by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee and Senator David Vitter (R-LA), Ranking Member.

Senator Boxer said: "It is a great day for the American people, as WRDA is critical for flood control, port commerce, safe drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. I thank Senator Vitter and the other members of the EPW Committee for working together on this critical legislation."

Senator Vitter said: "WRDA is one of the most important and impressive bipartisan bills to come out of our committee, and I thank Chairman Boxer for her leadership getting this done so efficiently. Our bill will implement real and necessary reforms to the Corps of Engineers to decrease project delivery time so that folks will be better protected from flooding and other projects can help jumpstart increased commerce."

Click here for the bill text for S. 601, WRDA, and the updated bill summary.