Sam Farr: “I want to just reiterate on what Mr. Blumenauer indicated. This isn't a ``rob Peter to pay Paul'' case. But if you are…”

“I want to just reiterate on what Mr. Blumenauer indicated. This isn't a ``rob Peter to pay Paul'' case. But if you are from the Jefferson Proving Ground, you have been waiting a long time. If you are from Fort Ord, California, where I am from and why I am really interested in this, we closed in the 1992 round, and we are doing massive economic development, and it is foreclosed if you can't get into cleaning up the unexploded ordnance. Fort Meade, Fort McClellan, Savannah Army Depot, the list goes on and on. These are the kinds of projects that are out there, ready to go. Just take the projects off the shelf, fund them and get it done. I am on this committee and I am very sympathetic. I am very appreciative of what the chairman has done, increasing the account by $50 million. We are going to have an amendment in a minute to cut it, which would be the worst thing we could ever do for all these reasons. Mr. Blumenauer is trying to increase it by $50 million so we could actually have enough money to get some of these projects started. I think it is good government. It is promises made, promises kept, and that is what we ought to do.”