Authorize USDA to revitalize watersheds and better protect communities from flood risk.

By clearly authorizing USDA to revitalize watersheds, the Restoring America’s Floodplains Act not only protects communities from flood risk but restores habitat, enhances outdoor recreation, and encourages compatible economic use.

Messmer supported a bill that would let USDA revitalize watersheds to reduce flood risk and support related land uses.

Messmer Introduces the Restoring America’s Floodplains Act | U.S. Representative Mark Messmer
primary · press_release · model gpt-5.4-mini

The House Agriculture Committee report for H.R. 7567 includes SEC. 2405, which amends the Emergency Watershed Program to authorize the Secretary to restore vegetative cover, hydrological functions, and other values of floodplain easements, maintain and enhance restoration measures, contract with landowners, States, NGOs, and Indian Tribes, and allow compatible economic uses such as hunting, fishing, timber harvest, water management, haying, or grazing.

Committee-reported bill text shows Messmer's floodplain/watershed concept was incorporated into the House farm bill markup, but this is still only committee-reported language, not enactment.

partial same_term A for effort

H. Rept. 119-620, Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026
secondary · model gpt-5.4-mini · confidence 95%

The introduced House bill text for H.R. 7567 contains SEC. 2405 on the Emergency Watershed Program, including floodplain easements, easement restoration, maintenance, compatible uses, and broader restoration authority when the Secretary finds it supports the long-term health of the watershed.

The underlying legislative vehicle already included the USDA watershed/flood-risk authorization, confirming the policy was formally introduced, but not yet enacted.

partial same_term A for effort

H.R. 7567 (IH) Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026
secondary · model gpt-5.4-mini · confidence 92%

House roll call records show H.R. 7567 was still being considered on April 30, 2026 and that the House had multiple recorded votes on amendments to the bill that day. This shows active House floor action on the broader farm bill carrying the watershed provision, but not final enactment into law.

The House moved the broader vehicle forward in the same-term lookback window, but the promise remains unresolved because House action alone does not authorize USDA by itself.

unresolved same_term A for effort

Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Roll Call 151
secondary · model gpt-5.4-mini · confidence 87%

Messmer said the House passage of the 2026 Farm Bill included 'flood mitigation, outdoor recreation enhancement, and land rehabilitation through the Restoring America’s Floodplains Act.'

This is a contemporaneous claim of progress by the member, but it is not independent proof of enactment; it does indicate he actively advanced the promise through the House process.

partial same_term A for effort

Messmer Celebrates Passage of the 2026 Farm Bill in the House of Representatives | U.S. Representative Mark Messmer
primary · model gpt-5.4-mini · confidence 78%