{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://donyoung.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398790", "House Passes Water Resource Development Bill", "2016-09-28", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "House", "AK", "Don Young", "Y000033", "donyoung.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Alaska Congressman Don Young and the U.S. House of Representatives today passed H.R. 5303, the Water Resource Development Act (WRDA) of 2016, bipartisan legislation to promote economic competitiveness and strengthen the nation\u2019s water transportation and infrastructure needs \u2013 including harbors and ports in coastal states like Alaska.\r\nH.R. 5303, which passed by a margin of 399 to 25, contains a number of Alaska and Arctic specific provisions championed by Congressman Young, including $26 million and $29 million in authorizations for harbor projects in Little Diomede and the City of Craig, respectively. In addition, the bill makes important reforms to the Army Corps of Engineers current system for evaluating small, remote and subsistence port and harbor projects, works to recognize the value of a potential Arctic Port,\u00a0 and broadens non-federal sponsors of water infrastructure projects to include Alaska Native Corporations. Congressman Young described the bill in the simplest of terms:\r\n\u201cWRDA is about new infrastructure and new jobs. It means opportunities for our residents, critical infrastructure for our coastal communities, and economic development for our state.\u201d\r\nIn a call for bipartisanship and cooperation on the legislation that ultimately freed the Senate from gridlock on the year end funding package, Young took to the House floor to speak in favor of the bill \u2013 saying it would allow Congress to \u201cfinish this project for the people of America.\u201d\r\n\r\nCongressman Don Young speaking on the House floor in favor of H.R. 5303 (click here to watch).\r\n\u201cThis bill is a good bill. I just ask all of you \u2013 you know, we\u2019re getting close to the end of this session and a lame duck too. This isn\u2019t perfect for everyone. It\u2019s not perfect for me in some cases. But let\u2019s get a piece of legislation done without nitpicking it and say, \u201cwell, I didn\u2019t get what I wanted\u2026,\u201d said Congressman Young yesterday on the House floor. \u201cThis is a good piece of legislation. It\u2019ll create a better system of our infrastructure \u2013 for water, harbor and ports and other drinking water too. It\u2019s a legislative package that\u2019s been put together with a lot of hard work with staff. As usual, we get into this battle \u2013 \u201cWell, I don\u2019t want it. It\u2019s a Democrat bill, it\u2019s a Republican bill.\u201d We ought to think of this as a House bill; a bill that can do the job. It will come out of this House, it will go over to the Senate and we\u2019ll have a Conference. We\u2019ll have another chance to finish this project for the people of America. So I\u2019m asking us not to get into a little bit of nitpicking and get a good piece of legislation such as this passed.\u201d\r\nThe following reforms and provisions of Alaskan importance were supported by Congressman Young in the 2016 House WRDA:\r\n \r\n    LITTLE DIOMEDE, AK:\u00a0The legislation authorizes the construction of a harbor in Little Diomede, AK: $26,015,000\r\n \r\n \r\n    CRAIG, AK:\u00a0The legislation authorizes the construction of a harbor in Craig, AK: $29,062,000\r\n \r\n \r\n    CITY OF VALDEZ:\u00a0The legislation includes a bill sponsored by Congressman Young, H.R. 5087, which removes a navigational servitude on waterfront land in Valdez that currently impedes economic development of the property.\u00a0 The bill removes the Federal Government\u2019s taint on title in order to allow investment prospects for lands that were created due to dredging disposal from the construction of the harbor.\r\n \r\n \r\n    \u00a0SMALL REMOTE AND SUBSISTENCE HARBORS:\u00a0 The legislation makes reforms to the current system the Corps of Engineers uses to evaluate small, remote, and subsistence port and harbor projects, by recognizing the regional benefits for justification of the project.\u00a0 Increasing capabilities at a hub community will dramatically lower the costs of goods throughout the region, in many circumstances.\r\n \r\n \r\n    EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES:\u00a0Allows Alaska Native Corporations to develop water infrastructure projects as non-federal sponsors.\r\n \r\n \r\n    ARCTIC PORTS:\u00a0 Congressman Young successfully included a two-part amendment to H.R. 5303 in Committee to help with a justification for an Arctic port: one change recognizes the value of a potential Arctic Port to the surrounding communities, and another to enables Corps to consider the national security benefits of an Arctic port.\r\n \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": ["http://donyoung.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398790"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7834129501134157, "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"}