Matt Rosendale: “My amendment No. 59 reduces spending; specifically, it cuts funding for the Army Corps of Engineers back to the FY22…”

“My amendment No. 59 reduces spending; specifically, it cuts funding for the Army Corps of Engineers back to the FY22 levels. This year's appropriation would increase Army Corps' funding by $910 million from last year. My amendment would reduce funding for the Army Corps by $620 million in order to bring it back to FY22 levels. That still leaves in place a $290 million increase. Unfortunately, the Army Corps of Engineers has a long history of running over budget and out of schedule. The solution to the Army Corps wasting taxpayers' money is not to reward them with more money. Instead, we must demand that the Army Corps of Engineers be more responsible and more efficient. In Montana alone, there are multiple instances of the Army Corps' projects running well beyond their budgets and then turning to State and local governments to make up the costs. The Army Corps has shown a complete dereliction of duty by trying to transfer costs, operation, and maintenance of the Fish Bypass Channel, which is part of the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project. The Army Corps is shifting operating costs that they agreed to take on to the farmers and ranchers who are already facing increased costs. In fact, before the Army Corps of Engineers even cut the ribbon on this project, it was in need of repairs. I witnessed it myself. The Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project was created as the Newlands Reclamation Act, signed into law in 1902.…”