Congressman Ed Whitfield (R-Hopkinsville) today announced that the Freedom
to Fish Act was favorably voted out of the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee
and will now be considered by the entire House of Representatives. The legislation is included as part of the Water Resources Reform and
Development Act of 2013 (WRRDA) that passed through committee earlier
today.
“I am pleased that we are now another step closer
to enacting a permanent solution to stopping the Corps’ overreach,” said Whitfield. “I will be urging Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader
Cantor to allow this bill to be considered before
the full House of Representatives as soon as possible.”
Now that WRRDA has been voted favorably out of the
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, it will be considered
by the entire House of Representatives. It will then go to a conference committee with the Senate to work out the
various differences between the two bills. Assuming a conference
agreement is reached, both Houses will approve the agreement and it will
be sent to the President to be signed into law.
Whitfield ushered a two-year moratorium
on the installation of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’
barricades at Cumberland River dams back in June. Kentucky Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand
Paul and Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander have been instrumental in
moving the necessary language through the Senate.