Political Quotes

“as the chairman of the authorizing committee having jurisdiction over the water resources programs of the Army Corps of Engineers, I rise to offer an amendment to title I of the bill. My amendment, Mr. Chairman, is in two parts: first, to change the effective date of a plan to close some of the Corps of Engineers divisions offices, and second, to delete a prohibition against the use of the dredge McFarland during fiscal year 1996. Regarding the first part of my amendment, I certainly applaud the Committee on Appropriation's efforts to streamline the corps and to save money. The Corps of Engineers must be allowed to downsize and make itself more efficient. The bill requires a plan to close three to five division offices. This plan will be only implemented after Congress has had an opportunity to review it. I have supported this aspect of the bill. The effect of my amendment simply is to assure that by changing the effective date from May 1, 1996, to August 15, 1996, that the authorizing committee has a reasonable amount of time to review the plan after it has been transmitted to the Congress. The second part of the amendment recognizes the need to avoid the expenditure of funds to rehabilitate a vessel that may not fit into the long-term plans for the corps' dredging program. Yet, this amendment allows the vessel to be kept operational while decisions are reached.”