Press Releases

Congressman Jim Banks (IN-03) today spoke on the House floor in support of permanently repealing the 2015 Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule in the 2018 Farm Bill. Rep. Banks has introduced an amendment to the 2018 farm bill that would permanently repeal the Obama-era WOTUS rule. The House is expected to debate the farm bill this week.

Click here or on the image below to view Congressman Banks’ speech.


Text of the speech follows:
Mr. Speaker, as we debate the Farm Bill this week, the House has an opportunity to permanently eliminate one of the worst examples of runaway government and unaccountable bureaucracy by the Obama administration.

The 2015 Waters of the United States rule, better known as WOTUS, is harmful to farmers and agricultural producers in Indiana and across the country.

This rule gives unelected bureaucrats at the EPA the power to broadly interpret what is a navigable waterway. This rule can be interpreted in a way where even a puddle can be considered a navigable waterway subject to federal regulation.

I am proud to represent nearly 12,000 farms in northeast Indiana, and each and every one of these operations could be subject to this overreaching rule.

At a time of falling commodity prices, the last thing Hoosier farmers need is an ambiguous, broad, and costly government decree that seeks to regulate nearly every aspect of their operation.

I applaud efforts by the Trump Administration to delay this damaging rule, but it is time to permanently repeal WOTUS. I urge my colleagues to support its elimination as Congress considers the Farm Bill this week.

###

 

Interested members of the media may contact Andrea Palermo at andrea.palermo@mail.house.gov.