On the recordSeptember 28, 2016
The Office of Management and Budget has imposed the need for a new start or a new investment determination for projects that have been previously fully authorized and have actually begun work despite a lack of written policy or standards. Many of these critical projects, like one in the district I represent, the Port of Corpus Christi Channel Improvement Project, which was fully authorized in WRDA 2007 and reauthorized in WRRDA 2014, have been halted even though parts of the project have been completed. The purpose of my amendment simply states that separate elements of a previously authorized project do not constitute a new start but are, in fact, a continuation and ongoing work. The new start determination and advancing separable elements of the entire project slows things down as we have to get a new start finding on every element. Slowing it down deprives the communities of much-needed improvements and actually raises the entire cost of the project. This amendment considers separable elements to be continuations of the fully authorized project.…
