Porter Goss: “I rise in support of what is very clearly a fair and open rule. This rule balances the interests of the authorizing…”

“I rise in support of what is very clearly a fair and open rule. This rule balances the interests of the authorizing committee as well as the appropriators in what is often a contentious area. For all those involved, I think it is a breakthrough and I congratulate them. Mr. Speaker, the bill we will consider shortly is an extremely important piece of legislation for the people of Florida, and I will speak parochially about it for a moment. In recent years, the Clinton administration seems to have engaged in an all-out assault on Federal support for beach renourishment, a subject of great interest in our State. First, the President suggested that the Federal Government had no role in assisting State and local governments to protect our Nation's beaches, beaches that I would say are used by all citizens of our Nation as well as the many, many visitors who come to our country, and especially to Florida. In response, last year's Congress passed the Shore Protection Act which revises the Army Corps of Engineers' mission to specifically include beach renourishment. As evidenced by his budget request this year, the President is continuing his assault on beach programs by not requesting adequate funds for these vital projects.”