{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.roberts.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=VideoClips&ContentRecord_id=96f7678d-7999-49eb-b158-ec313d5bd245", "Chairman Roberts Continues Fight Against WOTUS on Senate Floor", "2015-11-03", "2015", "2015-11", "Republican", "House", "KS", "Pat Roberts", "R000307", "www.roberts.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, today on the Senate floor spoke in favor of advancing The Federal Water Quality Protection Act, which would block the Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) regulatory overreach on Waters of the United States (WOTUS).\r\nThe Federal Water Quality Protection Act (S. 1140) was approved by the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee in June and requires EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw the finalized WOTUS rule and restart the full rulemaking process to develop a new rule in consultation with stakeholders, state partners and regulated entities. Chairman Roberts is an original cosponsor of S. 1140. For audio, and to view a short video on the bill, clickhere.\r\nChairman Roberts in March held a hearing on the WOTUS rule, which featured testimony from state and local officials responsible for the administration and enforcement of the WOTUS rule, along with agricultural industry representatives impacted by the burdensome regulation. For witness info, testimony, and to watch the hearing, click here.\r\nThe final WOTUS rule continues to be fraught with controversy  from its detrimental impacts on farm country to the questionable legality of the rulemaking process. Ongoing lawsuits involving over 30 states and industries impacted by the final rule only add further confusion about implementation and applicability of the final rule across the rest of the country.\r\nClick here for audio and video of Roberts remarks.", 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.roberts.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=VideoClips&ContentRecord_id=96f7678d-7999-49eb-b158-ec313d5bd245"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3055989984422922, "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"}