John Thune: “Mr. Speaker, my State has been trying to revise the master manual for a long time. Unfortunately, this issue has become…”

“Mr. Speaker, my State has been trying to revise the master manual for a long time. Unfortunately, this issue has become political and it should not. It has become more about endangered species than it has about people. The State of South Dakota has a lot at stake in this debate. We have a huge recreational industry in our State. In fact, the recreational industry in South Dakota and surrounding States is about $80 million a year, whereas navigation is about $7 million a year. The master manual needs to be revised to reflect modern uses. The Corps of Engineers is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and with the eight Missouri Basin States in an association, the Missouri River Basin Association, to do just that. There is a schedule in place. The environmental impact statement is due out in June of next year. The final decision is due in 2002. My point very simply, Mr. Speaker, is that this is an independent process. It is a process that is working to build consensus among the States of the Missouri River Basin. It should not become bogged down and involved in politics and unfortunately it has.”