House Passes HR 8812 – Water Resources Development Act

Yesterday, the House took up HR 8812 [removed from paywall], the Water Resources Development Act of 2024, under the suspension of the rules process. After almost 30 minutes of debate a vote was demanded in lieu of a voice vote on the bill. Subsequently, the House voted 359 to 13 (with 59 members not voting) to pass the bill. Twelve Republicans (no points for guessing who) voted against the bill.

Only one member spoke in opposition to the bill during the debate, Rep Cole (R,OK). Cole noted that (H4705):

“Creating self-funded agencies also removes them from the top-line spending caps on appropriations, thereby increasing total spending and taking another piece of total spending outside of fiscal controls. Finally, it is the Appropriations Committee’s exclusive jurisdiction to determine how much funding each Federal agency must work with, by carefully balancing the needs of the entire Federal Government. Putting certain agencies or activities outside of appropriations makes comprehensive budgeting more difficult, as agencies evade congressional controls.”

Cole voted to pass the bill.

There is one cybersecurity provision in the bill (Section 136). It provides restrictions on the Army Corps of Engineers new employment of remote operations of at a navigation or hydroelectric power generating facility without first notifying Congress that certain actions have been taken. Those action would include specific activities to address “cyber and physical security risks”.