Water Resources Development Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Chairman, this small legislative clarification will go a long way to promote tourism and economic opportunity on Corps lakes.

Beautiful Lake Cumberland, in my Congressional District, is the largest man-made lake east of the Mississippi. Located within a day's drive of 87 million Americans and with over 1,200 miles of pristine coastline, it is the ideal location for families to enjoy a week or a weekend on a houseboat.

Indeed, Lake Cumberland was once the houseboat capital of America, but that all abruptly changed when a major Corps rehabilitation project on the dam coincided with a downturn of the U.S. economy in 2007. The Corps had to lower the lake by some 43 feet to repair damage to Wolf Creek Dam, and the houseboat business was all but decimated.

It took 7 years to complete this project and restore lake levels, but I am proud to say, Mr. Chairman, that Lake Cumberland is now open for business. Unfortunately, the Corps has not been as eager as others to bring back the vibrant houseboat industry that once flourished in this region, or to support the emerging floating cabin industry that promises to make lake life accessible to more and more vacationers and families.

With Chairman Shuster's support, we added bipartisan language to the last WRDA bill to ensure that floating cabins, once garnering safety approval by the U.S. Coast Guard, would be permitted on Corps lakes.
However, the Corps has since found new and creative ways to continue banning floating cabins from their lakes, particularly through the promulgation of overly burdensome guidance with requirements far more stringent than those health and safety standards expected by the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard has successfully safeguarded our maritime system since its creation in 1790, and it is, therefore, the Coast Guard that should be the lead Federal agency in regulating the vessels that navigate our Federal waterways. Today's amendment simply reinforces congressional intent to ensure that there is one standard for these floating cabins, and that standard would be set by the U.S. Coast Guard. Safety should always remain our highest priority, and I am confident these cabins will create exciting new opportunities at Lake Cumberland and other Corps lakes.

I urge support of this amendment.

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