Blaine Luetkemeyer: “My amendment would eliminate funding for the Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study, also known as MRAPS. This $25…”

“My amendment would eliminate funding for the Missouri River Authorized Purposes Study, also known as MRAPS. This $25 million study was originally earmarked under the guise of a review of the 1944 Flood Control Act and relevant court rulings to determine if current authorized project purposes are contemporary. MRAPS comes on the heels of another comprehensive $35 million, 17-year study completed in 2004 that showed that the current authorized purposes are appropriate and do not need to be altered. For river communities, few issues are as important as water supply, power, and navigation. This study puts in jeopardy the flow of the lower Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, which would have devastating consequences for navigation and transportation along those rivers and result in barriers for agriculture, waterways operations, and every product that depends on the Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers to get to market. MRAPS is duplicative and wasteful of taxpayer dollars. We've already spent $35 million to examine the Missouri River Master Manual. After 17 years, hundreds of public meetings, and countless lawsuits, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concluded that the current uses of the river are appropriate. It is careless and irresponsible to conduct another multiyear, multimillion dollar study at taxpayers' expense, particularly given the dire state of our Nation's economy.”