{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=7835cd98-9611-48a6-b4a3-14c73bd67a45", "Heitkamp Helps Pass U.S. Senate Resolution to Do Away with Waters of the U.S. Rule", "2015-11-04", "2015", "2015-11", "Democrat", "House", "ND", "Heidi Heitkamp", "H001069", "www.heitkamp.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today helped pass a Senate resolution to do away with the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) overbroad Waters of the U.S. States rule. Heitkamp today voted for a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to immediately do away with the Waters of the U.S. rule. The president will likely veto the bill should it reach his desk.\r\nHeitkamp is also working with Republican and Democratic senators to reach a compromise about how to fix the rule, build support for her bipartisan legislation to accomplish that goal, and offer farmers and ranchers lasting certainty. She and Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana  with whom she helped write and introduce a bipartisan bill to redo the Waters of the U.S. rule  are working to reach a deal to resolve the unworkable rule, better support farmers and ranchers, and move their bill forward. Heitkamp introduced the bipartisan bill in April  which she had been working on for several months  with U.S. Senators Joe Donnelly (D-IN), James Inhofe (R-OK), and John Barrasso (R-WY).   Today the Senate passed a resolution I supported to do away with the overbroad Waters of the U.S. rule, a rule that been a primary cause of confusion and unease for farmers, said Heitkamp. Unfortunately, the President has already said he will veto it. We must work to deliver comprehensive, bipartisan solutions that bring about lasting confidence and certainty across farm country. Yesterday my bipartisan bill to provide that long-term clarity almost passed, and working with Senator Joe Donnelly, we are trying to working out a compromise across party lines on a path forward for instilling the certainty our agricultural communities depend on.\r\nHeitkamp is strongly committed to achieving solutions that will provide lasting relief to the communities in North Dakotas farm country. After months of working to construct a solution that would give farmers and ranchers lasting relief from the overreaching Waters of the U.S. rule, Heitkamp helped introduced the bipartisan, pragmatic Federal Water Quality Protection Act in April to make sure the EPA addresses the concerns of the farmers, ranchers, and small businesses impacted by the rule. Just two months after its introduction, the bill passed in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Although their bill fell just three votes short of moving forward, Heitkamp is working with Donnelly to reach a deal to fix the Waters of the U.S. rule. Continuing her efforts to make sure the concerns of agricultural and small business workers are heard, Heitkamp brought Senator Donnelly to North Dakota in September to talk with agriculture, civic, and business leaders about the challenges they face as a result of the Waters of the U.S. rule.\r\nHeitkamp will also continue to closely monitor the legal proceedings of court cases pending to reject the rule  and has already praised the injunction issued by the U.S. District Court of North Dakotas court in August to block the rule for 13 states, as well as the national suspension of the rule by U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit last month. As she continues to monitor these judicial proceedings, Heitkamp will continue working to gain support for her bipartisan solution to provide North Dakotas agricultural community with the lasting certainty they need.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heitkamp.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=7835cd98-9611-48a6-b4a3-14c73bd67a45"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7657851092517376, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}