Water Resources Development Act of 2007--Veto Message from the President of the United States

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Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

The previous speaker I have great respect for; I think he's one of the very conscientious, very able Members of this House, and I think he is one of the fiscal conservatives that follows a consistent policy. I don't think that's true of all his colleagues. I think they talk a fiscally conservative game sometimes, but don't play a fiscally conservative game. But let me tell my friend this: expenditures are both domestic and non-domestic. And my friend is leaving, Mr. Flake. I guess I'm not going to talk to him about it. But the previous speaker spoke about fiscally conservative actions. This President has sent down to us a request for $196.4 billion in expenditures, not in Anchorage, not in Baltimore and not in Mississippi or California, $196.4 billion for Baghdad and Kabul. But, he says, water resources development is too much for America. He doesn't pay for a single cent of that $196.4 billion, not a cent, but he says in order to develop the levees to save New Orleans, it has cost us billions of dollars because they weren't adequate; or to build bridges that don't fall down in Minnesota, he says this is too much money. And I understand that WDRA doesn't cover bridges. But the point is it covers investment in our country.

Mr. Speaker, like most of our House colleagues, I am deeply disappointed that the President has chosen to veto the Water Resources Development Act. It is critical to the health of our people, to economic development in this country, and the safety of our communities.

The WDRA conference report, which passed the House and Senate by overwhelming bipartisan votes, 381 Members of this House said this investment is good for America, and in the Senate, 81 Senators said this investment is good for America, because it makes critical investments in our Nation's water resources and infrastructure.

In short, this conference report will enable the Army Corps of Engineers to maintain our Federal shipping channels, preserving jobs and bolstering the economy. It will allow the Corps to work with States and local communities on necessary environmental restoration projects, and it will permit the Corps to ensure the safety of our citizens by shoring up our aging levees, dams, and reducing the possibility of flooding.

Furthermore, this conference report makes specific investments in the gulf coast, which was so damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. I see my friend, Mr. Melancon, on the floor of this House. He knows how critical this funding is for his region and for America. For example, it would restore Louisiana's coastal wetlands, which provide increased hurricane and storm damage protection which ultimately will save us billions of dollars. It would raise and enhance flood protection levees surrounding the City of New Orleans, and it would make improvements to the drainage canals that significantly contributed to the flooding of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Many of us have been there and have seen that damage.

Unfortunately, despite the beneficial investments called for in this conference report, the President has chosen to stand in the way of this bipartisan legislation, this overwhelmingly bipartisan legislation, in an attempt to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility. Fiscally responsible people invest in their future. Fiscally responsible people maintain their infrastructure. Fiscally responsible people know that clean water and safe harbors aid our commerce and the health of our people. That is conservative investment. Let us be clear, the President wants to make a stand on fiscal responsibility. This is the wrong bill to have done so.

The WRDA conference report is a multi-year authorization through which Congress would appropriate about $2 billion a year for the Corps to undertake important projects. Furthermore, this conference report reflects a backlog of 7 years of project requests because the 107th, 108th and 109th Congresses failed to enact a water resources bill.

Ladies and gentlemen of this House, let us fulfill our promise to communities all across this Nation, not to Baghdad, not to Kabul, but to the cities and States that I've mentioned. Let us meet our responsibility, the vital fiscally responsible investments in projects that facilitate commerce and economic development, provide eco-system restoration, and protect human life and property.

Let us exercise the responsibility that the Constitution of the United States gives to us, and that is to set policy and invest the resources of our public in a better future for our country.

Vote to override this mistaken veto.

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