Washington, D.C. -- Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), issued the following statement after the House of Representatives announced it would take up the Water Resources Reform and Development Act next week. In May, the Senate passed the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act of 2013 (WRDA 2013) by a vote of 83 to 14, and it passed out of the EPW Committee unanimously in March.
Senator Boxer said: "Now that we have moved past this calamitous government shutdown, I am pleased the House has announced that its water resources bill will be considered on the floor next week. We want to get to conference on this critical job creating legislation as soon as possible so that we can reconcile the House and Senate versions and get it to the President's desk."
The House was expected to take up the legislation last week, but floor consideration was postponed because of the government shutdown. WRDA 2013 (S. 601) provides critical flood protection for communities across the country, maintains navigation routes and the flow of commerce, provides ecosystem restoration, and will support up to 500,000 new jobs.
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