Letterhead has John P. Murtha, 12th District, Pennsylvania, Committee:on Appropriations, Congress of the United States, House of Representatives, Washington DC 20515-3812, letter dated

12 June 2003.

Mr. Don Strimbeck, Secretary
Upper Monongahela River Association Incorporated
P. O. Box 519
Granville WV 26534-0519

Dear Mr. Strimbeck:

Thanks for your recent communications regarding the plans of the Army Corps of Engineers to reduce the operating hours of the locks on the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers.

Although I understand the position of the ACOE with regard to recreational boating, I must state that I completely agree with you that these restrictions will hurt boaters and cause economic damage to businesses and local communities along the rivers. It is certainly my goal to maintain the best schedule feasible for both the Allegheny and Mon locks.

I have written to the Army Corps asking for clarification of the costs of operating the locks, and, the potential to offset those costs with user fees, which was raised in some of the correspondence I've received. Although I am not excited about the idea of recreational-user fees, the budget in Washington will have a major deficit for the next several years, so we must come up with some way to "sell" a plan to Congress if we hope to obtain additional funding for the lock operations.

Also please note that I have been in contact with some other members of Congress looking for other approaches to addressing this issue. One such idea is to automate the locks so that they can be operated remotely. Another idea we are exploring is the feasibility of passing legislation that requires the Army Corp to consider not only commercial lockages but also recreational lockages in assessing its operations. Both of these ideas will face some stiff opposition because of the projection that the federal debit will expand by $4 billion over the next several years. Nonetheless, I believe that we need to look into these options as well.

Fortunately, the Corps has committed to maintaining its current lock schedule through this year, so we have a little time to look at options. Please stay in touch and let me know if you have any other suggestions for how we might save the locks. I don't believe that simply adding some money the following year will solve the problem - that's a formula for a yearly fight and annual uncertainty among the boating community. I believe we need to find a long-term solution.

Sincerely,

/s/ John P. Murtha

Member of Congress
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