The Waterways Journal
12 November 2007
By Carlos J. Salzano
The House and Senate, ignoring President Bush's criticism of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 as "excessive," joined in the first override of the president's veto, allowing the measure to become law without his signature.
The Senate took up the bill (H.R. 1495) at 10:45 a.m. November 8 and after several procedural quorum calls and six speech-es in support of the measure completed the voting about 90 minutes later. The final tally was 79-13 in favor of overriding the veto, well over the two-thirds needed for passage. Two days earlier, the House recorded the first override of a Bush veto by a vote of 361 to 54, also considerably more than the two-thirds required.
The first senator speaking in favor of overriding the veto, said to be only the 107th override in the history of the country, was Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), minority whip, who said that projects authorized by the bill "should go forward." Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) said the bill was "crucial for the entire country" and that it was a "momentous step toward the recovery of New Orleans."
Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) was one of several senators emphasizing that the measure was not a spending bill. "Authorization does not mean that a project would ever get funded," Domenici said. The president, apparently looking on the bill as a spending measure, "made a mistake," the senator said. "It is not a spending bill." The president, he said, will have an opportunity to veto funding for a project when it comes through in an appropriations bill.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chair-woman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, cited the "overwhelming bipartisan support" for the bill. A vote for override, Boxer said, would be "a win" for the American people. "An override would fulfill a promise to the people of Louisiana," she added.
Boxer, as did Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) after her, continued to stress that the authorization bill "doesn't spend a penny."
"The president's veto was ill-advised," said Inhofe, ranking member of Boxer's committee. "The bill doesn't spend a penny. It is not a spending bill."
Sen. Kent Conrad, (D-N.D.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, repeated that the bill is "just an authorization bill. It's not a bill that can spend a dime."
After the House override vote, which Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, missed because he was recovering from neck surgery, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), chairwoman of the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, said, "This is a great day for the House of Representatives, because we stood together — Democrats and Republicans to do the right thing."
In his veto message to Congress November 2, Bush said that the bill lacked "fiscal discipline" and did not set "priorities."
Bush said the House took a $15 billion bill into negotiations with a $14 billion bill from the Senate "and instead of splitting the difference, emerged with a Washington compromise that costs over $23 billion." The president said that the bill's "excessive authorization for over 900 projects and programs exacerbates the massive backlog of ongoing Corps (of Engineers) construction projects, which will require an additional $38 billion in future appropriations to complete."
As for priorities, Bush said the bill "promises hundreds of earmarks and hinders the Corps' ability to fulfill the nation's critical water resources needs..." He said that American taxpayers "should not be asked to support a pork-barrel system of federal authorization and funding where a project's merit is an afterthought."
Bush's veto released a torrent of criticism from Capitol Hill and the maritime industry.
Oberstar and Johnson said the president's veto was "simply irresponsible." They said that the United States "cannot afford more setbacks on water resources issues and projects that are critical to our nation's economy."
Stressing that America's infrastructure "is in dire need," the two Democrats pointed to the bridge collapse in Minnesota and the levee failure in New Orleans and asked, `How many more failures do we need before this administration understands the importance of investing in the repair, replacement and sustainability of our nation's infrastructure?"
They said the president's veto "demonstrated a stunning lack of compassion and support for the people along the Gulf Coast." The veto was "particularly galling," they said, because the president is now asking the American people to spend another $196 billion on Iraq.
Rep. John L. Mica (R-Fla.), ranking member of the House Transportation Committee, "respectfully disagreed" with the president's veto.
"This legislation is now almost eight years overdue, and nearly a quarter of the authorized funding is devoted to Gulf Coast storm protection projects and the restoration and protection of the Everglades," Mica said. "After years of planning, this conference report at last authorizes actual work to begin on projects for this ecological treasure of Florida and the entire nation."
While expressing disappointment with the president's veto, R. Barry Palmer, president and CEO of Waterways Council Inc., said he hoped that the House and Senate would move swiftly to override the veto and approve WRDA.
"An override of the president's veto and final passage of the WRDA legislation reflects the vital importance of the inland waterways system and its role in keeping the nation economically competitive and our citizens productively employed," Palmer said. "The WRDA bill will also help to improve our ports, flood and hurricane protection systems, and restore critically important ecosystems and marine habitats."
The bill passed by Congress November 8 would authorize about $11 billion worth of projects reported by the Chief of Engineers, including nine for navigation; 400 new projects for the Army Corps of Engineers, including projects for navigation, flood control, environmental restoration, recreation and environmental infra-structure; and the restoration of the Florida Everglades and the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway System, along with the construction of seven new 1,200-foot locks on the system.
Among other things, the bill authorizes about $1.9 billion to restore the Louisiana Coastal Area impacted by Hurricane Katrina and to help prevent future dam-age from hurricane and storm surge.
Furthermore, the conference-approved bill authorizes $2 billion for small-scale and non-structural navigation improvements as well as construction of the new locks.
Also authorized was a $1.6 billion ecosystem restoration program throughout the basin.
The bill also authorizes the first three project components of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan that was approved in WRDA-2000: Indian River Lagoon, Picayune Strand, and Site 1 Impoundment.
Several policy provisions, including independent peer review, are addressed in the bill. WRDA-2007 directs the Corps to undertake independent peer review of any project estimated to cost more than $45 million, or when a governor of an affected state requests it, or if the Chief of Engineers determines that the project will be controversial. WRDA-2007 also directs the Corps to update its Principles and Guidelines.