Johnny Isakson: “I wish to rise and speak on the Water Resources Development Act, and I wish to, first of all, thank Chairman Boxer and…”

“I wish to rise and speak on the Water Resources Development Act, and I wish to, first of all, thank Chairman Boxer and Ranking Member Inhofe of the EPW Committee for all the work they have done on the WRDA--Water Resources Development Act--and I wish to particularly thank my colleague, Max Baucus, as he is chairman, and I am the ranking member of the subcommittee overseeing the Corps of Engineers and the Water Resources Development Act. I voted for it on the floor, and today, when the vote comes to override the veto of the President, I am going to vote to override the veto. I wish to enter into the record today, specifically and candidly and briefly, exactly the reasons why. No. 1, the Water Resources Development Act is an authorization, not appropriations. To characterize it as overspending is not correct because it is the appropriations bill where we do that. No. 2, authorizations set priorities, priorities upon which the Appropriations Committee makes decisions based on the money it has and on where best to spend the resources we have. No. 3, as for the size of the authorization, everyone should know that up until the year 2000, this Senate, and the House on the other end of this building, biannually passed Water Resources Development Act reauthorizations. We have gone 7 years without prioritizing the Corps of Engineers and the water resources of this country.”