Tom Tancredo: “I rise in opposition to S. 2796, the Water Resources Development Act. The communities in my district have learned first…”

“I rise in opposition to S. 2796, the Water Resources Development Act. The communities in my district have learned first hand that the Army Corps of Engineers has become a large, bloated and intransigent bureaucracy. Now is the time for reform, and while I commend the Transportation Committee for their efforts to bring about some reform in the area of peer-review for projects in S. 2796, I believe more work must be done, and more efforts to shrink the size and power of the Corps of Engineers should be made. To illustrate the point, I am enclosing for the Record the following Op-Ed I recently submitted to the Aurora Sentinel regarding the need for reform in the Army Corps of Engineers. On a related topic, I believe that the public image and reputation of the Corps of Engineers might be improved tremendously if it would adopt some of the recommended policy changes suggested by the 1999 National Recreation Lakes Study Commission. Specifically, I believe it is time for the Corps to reverse its long-standing opposition to cost-share proposals that would rehabilitate facilities on the recreational properties it leases to non-federal entities such as the State of Colorado.”