rahall: mr. chairman, i yield myself such time as i may consume. the chair: the gentleman from west virginia is recognized for as much time as he wishes to use. mr. rahall: i rise in strong support of h.r. 5078 and proposing its latest versions of regulations defining waters of the united states, the e.p.a. claims to be attempting to provide clarity. it claims to be attempting to provide certainty for multitudes of americans who have been left perplexed by clean water act jurisdiction for many years. without a doubt, confusing and conflicting supreme court decisions have helped to create a regulatory jumble, bull the e.p.a.'s proposed new regulations are doing little, if anything, to clear and calm those murky and oiling regulatory waters. . these regular lady bulldogses have only stirred up more worry and aggravation and frankly, anger. in truth the only certainty that these regulations provide is the shire knowledge that under them -- sure knowledge that under them anyone undertaking any activi

evan jenkins, the republicans really feel like -- they have always tried to go after rahal, but never had a good candidate against him. there was heavy republican spending earlier in the spring. the congressman's numbers started to crater. now it is kind of bouncing around a little bit. democrats have been emboldened by this race. they feel like they pushed back on specific elements of the affordable care act and they feel emboldened by it. can use thatey blueprint in districts across the country. tossup, whypublican is he in trouble? it is a competitive district. the former democratic nominee and speaker of the house, a tremendous fundraiser, i think it will be a great race. what surprised me was that coming into the race, mike cotton, the congressman, his numbers are surprisingly strong. as romanoff starts to spend more money and make his case, we will see it tighten a little bit. very competitive gubernatorial election there. in the sixth district it is one of the battleground districts of a battleground state. this morning in "the new york times," the sunday review, this piece, "w

rahall and mr.ibble for introducing this bipartisan resolution, and i urge my colleagues to adopt it. mr. speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves his time. the chair recognizes the gentleman from washington, mr. smith. mr. smith: thank you, mr. speaker. i yield myself such time as i may consume. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for as much time as he wishes. mr. smith: there are two issues important to this piece of legislation. the first, the chairman mentioned, and that is the legality of this. however, he's wrong in the idea in saying that this is, you know, clear on its face and there's no debate. there's actually considerable debate as to whether or not the president's actions were legal. the president and the secretary of defense have stated unequivocally that they believe they acted within the law. this is actually an issue that comes up repeatedly between the legislative and the executive branch. it's been

evan jenkins, the republicans really feel like -- they have always tried to go after rahal, but neverad a good candidate against him. there was heavy republican spending earlier in the spring. the congressman's numbers started to crater. now it is kind of bouncing around a little bit. democrats have been emboldened by this race. they feel like they pushed back on specific elements of the affordable care act and they feel emboldened by it. can use thatey blueprint in districts across the country. tossup, whypublican is he in trouble? it is a competitive district. the former democratic nominee and speaker of the house, a tremendous fundraiser, i think it will be a great race. what surprised me was that coming into the race, mike cotton, the congressman, his numbers are surprisingly strong. as romanoff starts to spend more money and make his case, we will see it tighten a little bit. very competitive gubernatorial election there. in the sixth district it is one of the battleground districts of a battleground state. this morning in "the new york times," the sunday review, this piece, "why

evan jenkins, the republicans really feel like -- they have always tried to go after rahal, but never a good candidate against him. there was heavy republican spending earlier in the spring. the congressman's numbers started to crater. now it is kind of bouncing around a little bit. democrats have been emboldened by this race. they feel like they pushed back on specific elements of the affordable care act and they feel emboldened by it. can use thatey blueprint in districts across the country. tossup, whypublican is he in trouble? it is a competitive district. the former democratic nominee and speaker of the house, a tremendous fundraiser, i think it will be a great race. what surprised me was that coming into the race, mike cotton, the congressman, his numbers are surprisingly strong. as romanoff starts to spend more money and make his case, we will see it tighten a little bit. very competitive gubernatorial election there. in the sixth district it is one of the battleground districts of a battleground state. this morning in "the new york times," the sunday review, this piece, "why d

i thank my original co-sponsors, congressman ribble, barrow and rahall for standing with me in this.respect my colleague, the ranking member, ranking member smith. my respect for him is not diminished by the fact we have strong but different views on this matter. i don't share the ease with which he has accepted the president's -- i believe -- refusal to follow the law, and i reject outright and i must do so in this chamber the assertion that this is partisan. it is not partisan. it is in my service to virginia's second congressional district, an increasing number of men and women from a diverse audience in my district are deeply troubled by the president's continued pattern of going outside of the law and executive overreach and this is an example that hits home in my r district which is more active men and wrim in uniform than any other district. they are increasingly asking me this question, what is congress doing about this? and this resolution today is a direct manifestation of my duty and i believe our collective duty to hold the president accountable for break the law. . the e