Republican members on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee praised the U.S. Senate’s 99-1 vote this week on a sweeping $6 billion water infrastructure authorization bill that’s now headed to the president’s desk to become law. America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018, S. 3021, contains several House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee priorities supported by House E&C Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR); E&C Environment Subcommittee Chairman John Shimkus (R-IL); and E&C Energy Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI). “Without question, this water infrastructure package is a win for America,” the committee leaders said in a joint Oct. 10 statement released by the E&C Committee. The House lawmakers noted that S. 3021 will reauthorize the Safe Drinking Water Act for the first time in 20 years. This action, they said, will guarantee “our communities have safe, reliable drinking water available.” S. 3021 also promotes hydropower development, which in turn will establish “clean energy jobs here at home and provides consumers with low-cost, emissions-free electricity,” the congressmen said. According to their statement, the water infrastructure package combines several E&C bills authored by Republicans that passed the House, such as the Promoting Hydropower Development at Existing Nonpowered Dams Act, H.R. 2872, authored by Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-IN); and key provisions from the Hydropower Policy Modernization Act, H.R. 3043, authored by House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA). “We applaud the Senate for passing this vital legislation and urge President Trump to sign it into law soon,” Reps. Walden, Shimkus and Upton said on Wednesday.
