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February 25, 2004
Address
Dear Mr. Chairman:
An adequately funded and well-maintained water resources infrastructure is crucial to America's economic and environmental well-being. Our citizens depend on first-class ports and waterways, life-saving flood control, and abundant water supplies as well as shore protection, water recreation, environmental restoration, and hydropower production. Unfortunately, the pending Federal budget for FY 2005 is inadequate to meet the growing needs in each of these vital civil works programs. In 2003, the Corps expended $4.905 billion -- which means OMB's budget request of $4.215 billion will not only delay or terminate projects, it will cost U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars in benefits-foregone and higher transportation bills. In 1986, in constant dollars, the Corps program was at a $6.6 billion level, and the Corps mission has since expanded. We're not moving ahead, we're falling far behind.
Each year, the marine transportation system moves $1 trillion of domestic and inter-national freight, including some 280 million tons of coal, over 70 percent of which is used to generate electricity, and more than 60 percent of the Nation's grain exports. In the process, navigation infrastructure underpins the employment of more than 13 million of our citizens. Ocean-going ships move more than 95 percent of U.S. overseas trade by weight and 75 percent by value, and international trade is projected to at least double by 2020. Goods imported through U.S. seaports pay approximately $17 billion a year in Customs duties - money that goes directly into the U.S. Treasury. Deep-draft coastal and Great Lakes channels, which are constructed and maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with state and local port authorities and the dredging industry, are vital components of the Nation's transportation infrastructure. As other nations rush to modernize their transportation facilities, the United States must not fall behind.
Flooding is still the most common and costly natural disaster in America. Millions of our residents, particularly in the Lower Mississippi Valley, rely on a vast network of levees and upstream reservoirs to protect their homes and businesses. All across the Nation, flood control projects prevent an estimated $16 billion in flood damages annually. In fact, for every $1 invested in flood control projects, almost $6 in potential damages is prevented. Likewise, shore protection projects help to limit the impact of natural disasters such as hurricanes along our fragile coastlines.
Since 1824, the Congress has charged the Corps of Engineers with the responsibility of making wise and prudent navigation improvements. Flood control became a national priority
following the disastrous Ohio and Mississippi River floods of the 1920s and 1930s. Later, water supply and water recreation were added as Corps missions. As a matter of fact, more Americans visit the thousands of Corps-operated recreation sites every year than all of the national parks. Many projects are multipurpose-the Corps is now the country's largest operator of hydroelectric plants that return dollars to the treasury through the production and marketing of hydropower-largely an incidental benefit of structures whose primary purpose is navigation or flood control. More recently, the Corps has begun a far-sighted program of environmental restoration. Clearly, these missions are in the national interest, as Congress has repeatedly affirmed.
The current FY 2005 budget proposal clearly indicates that on-going construction projects will have to be stretched out, slowed down or terminated. We have been told that the Corps of Engineers will be able to continue work on replacement locks and dams, port improvements and flood control projects at only about 60 percent of its capability. Such unnecessary delays in construction schedules mean that projects cost more and that the realization of project benefits is delayed, effectively costing the Nation hundreds of millions of dollars. Also, over half our locks and dams have exceeded their life expectancy. Maintenance bills for all of our rivers are increasing geometrically, with unscheduled outages becoming more commonplace - disastrously affecting the reliability of our transportation network - when just a $1 investment in O&M can return an average of $14.10 in transportation savings.
One of the President's budgetary priorities is strengthening the economy. Fully funding the projects on our Nation's waterways offers a unique opportunity to take advantage of the high productivity level of our nation's contractors, thus providing needed economic job growth, as well as enhancing the transportation network for international trade. At the same time, it provides the shippers of America's building blocks -- steel, coal, fertilizer, sand and gravel, cement, salt, petroleum, chemicals, etc. -- a safe, cheap and eco-friendly transportation alternative. Our infrastructure is literally crumbling before our eyes due to insufficient funding. But, with proper investment, our waterways have the potential to help grow our economy, help ease our nation's growing congestion problem, and provide a finer quality of life.
In considering the water development portion of Function 300 of the FY 2005 Budget Resolution, we respectfully urge you to provide the necessary funding to keep America's water resources infrastructure functioning as a major contributor to the Nation's wealth and prosperity.
Sincerely,