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Â鶹ÊÓƵAdvocacy Efforts Help Bring Large Bipartisan Victory On May 15, the Senate overwhelmingly passed its version of the Water Resources Development Act of 2013 (WRDA) by an 83-14 vote. Although the Senate passed the bill by a large, bipartisan margin, 14 senators voted against the bill. Those senators include: Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Lee (R-Utah), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.). Throughout the Senate WRDA , and , Â鶹ÊÓƵfought for the interests of construction contractors. Â鶹ÊÓƵhelped lead multiple coalition efforts to press for WRDA passage in the Senate. Â鶹ÊÓƵand more than 50 of its chapters joined more than 170 organizations—comprised of construction industry associations, labor unions and farm groups, among others—. The Â鶹ÊÓƵco-chaired and the also sent letters to the Senate urging passage of WRDA. In addition to these efforts, Â鶹ÊÓƵmembers sent hundreds of emails to their senators through and met with Senators in person to press for WRDA passage in conjunction with the recent Â鶹ÊÓƵFederal Contractors Conference in Washington, D.C. Â鶹ÊÓƵfought for and against amendments to the WRDA bill that would impact contractors. First, Â鶹ÊÓƵadvocated for an that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) from finalizing their proposed Final Guidance on Identifying Waters Protected by the Clean Water Act (See story below). Ultimately, the Barrasso Amendment vote, as the provision did not get the needed 60 votes to end debate.  Â鶹ÊÓƵalso advocated against an that would have allowed an executive branch commission to have limitless discretion to terminate authorized or funded Corps Civil Works projects, whether under study or ongoing. Â鶹ÊÓƵwarned that the Coburn Amendment would jeopardize and waste millions of taxpayer dollars already invested at all levels—federal, state, and local—of government. The amendment failed by a . Action on WRDA now moves to the House, where almost half of the members were not in office for the last WRDA reauthorization in 2007. Â鶹ÊÓƵhas already begun its efforts to help these new congressmen understand the importance of adequately funding and streamlining the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program through WRDA. For more information, please contact Jimmy Christianson at 703-837-5325 or christiansonj@agc.org.