Russ Feingold: “I will vote to sustain President Bush's veto of the Water Resources Development Act. The President's veto of the WRDA…”

“I will vote to sustain President Bush's veto of the Water Resources Development Act. The President's veto of the WRDA bill is a welcome opportunity for Congress to modify the flawed, bloated bill. Instead of overriding the veto, Congress should be taking this opportunity to fix the bill. For 7 years, I have worked with Senator McCain and many of our colleagues to achieve essential reforms of the Corps of Engineers, and have long anticipated the day that meaningful reforms are enacted. Unfortunately, during conference, the Senate's strong Corps reform provisions were significantly watered down. Instead of the reform bill that the country needs, this bill is simply the latest example of business as usual. After a decade of Government and independent reports calling for reforming the Corps, and pointing out stunning flaws in Corps projects and project studies, and after the tragic failures of New Orleans' levees during Hurricane Katrina, the American people deserve meaningful reforms to ensure that the projects the Corps builds are safe, appropriate, environmentally responsible and fiscally sound. The urgency and necessity could not be clearer. A critical component of reforming the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is ensuring independent review of significant Corps projects. This bill provides review but does not ensure it is truly independent.”