Rodney Frelinghuysen: “I do rise in opposition to the amendment. And let me say, I appreciate the gentleman's passion for coastal restoration.…”

“I do rise in opposition to the amendment. And let me say, I appreciate the gentleman's passion for coastal restoration. I know it's a high priority for his district and others around the Nation. The bill before us includes over $5 million to continue studies, engineering and design work and various components of the program. That's nearly 6 percent of the entire Investigations account dedicated to continuing work in coastal restoration in Louisiana. The committee had to make some tough choices in the bill. While the Army Corps was a high priority, it was not completely spared. The Construction account, specifically, is slightly below the President's budget request, and almost 20 percent below the fiscal year 2013 appropriations. The Corps has numerous projects already under construction that were not included in the President's budget and, so, aren't likely to be funded in fiscal year 2014. While construction funding is trending downward, I believe it is most prudent to prioritize funding for ongoing projects so they can be completed and the Federal Government can realize the public safety, economic and other benefits from previous spending, rather than starting new projects. It's unclear to me whether this is a new project, but I take the gentleman at his word that this is not a new project. I do oppose the amendment. The reduction would substantially work against our purposes of trying to balance the Federal budget and lower the Federal deficit.…”