Congressman Garret Graves was named Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment on January 23.
The Subcommittee oversees water resources development and regulatory programs administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency.
As Chairman, Graves will play an expanded role in shaping legislation to limit the scope and economic damages of agency regulations, shorten the time it takes for projects to be completed and bring efficiency to how the government works.
The Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment will translate the Trump Administration’s proposed Infrastructure Package into legislation in the coming years, particularly with respect to bridges, flood protection, ports, waterways and coastal restoration.
“We are all-in with the new Administration’s focus on modernizing our country’s infrastructure – but until you reform the current regulatory climate, you can’t do infrastructure,” said Graves.
“Untangling the decades of bureaucracy and the culture of delay within the Corps, EPA and other agencies will take time, but we’re committed to helping lead the transformative change that has to occur to fix what’s broken in government operations. We’re going to work toward making Louisiana’s coast and the state’s need for hurricane and flood protection a case study on how it should be done – instead of another story of government failure.”
Graves, who recently finished his second year serving in the House of Representatives, has more than 20 years of experience working on water resources issues. In addition to his policy expertise and years of private sector work, Graves served as Louisiana’s Chairman of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA).
Under Graves’ tenure, Louisiana constructed more flood protection infrastructure and restored more miles of coastline than at any other period of time in the State’s history.