[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 33 (Wednesday, March 22, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E380-E381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS

                                 ______
                                 

                    HON. ROBERT E. (BUD) CRAMER, JR.

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 22, 2000

  Mr. CRAMER. Mr. Speaker, I have worked with the United States Army 
Corps of Engineers for my entire service in Congress. I have always 
found the integrity of the Corps beyond question. I have great 
confidence in the Corps, including an outstanding group of people who 
work in the Huntsville, Alabama, Division office of the Corps.
  Serious charges have been laid on the military leadership of the 
Corps by some in the press recently. These claims about the soundness 
of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois River Navigation Study must be 
fully evaluated and whatever steps these evaluations indicate to be 
appropriate must be taken. Until that time, however, I find it 
unacceptable and unfair to our armed forces to challenge the 
professional appointees who have given their entire professional career 
to serve this country. All of these officers have come highly 
recommended by their peers. Many of us have worked with them earlier in 
our careers.
  The Upper Mississippi and Illinois River Navigation Study has not 
been completed and is yet to be distributed for state and agency 
review. To criticize the unknown outcome of the study before the public 
review has even started may inhibit reasoned development of final 
recommendations for water improvement by the Secretary of the Army and 
unfairly color Congress' deliberations on those recommendations. There 
are certainly many potential alternatives and points of view that have 
to be considered; there is not just one. There are many uncertainties 
and unknowns that we will encounter as we plan and prepare for the 
future, but there is one certainty: the importance to the national 
welfare of navigation as an essential element of a sound transportation 
infrastructure.
  Through the Corps Civil Works program, the Federal Government has 
created the world's most advanced water resources infrastructure 
contributing to our unprecedented standard of living. The program is 
essentially a capital investment and management program that returns 
significant economic, environmental, and other benefits to the nation. 
Though relatively small in the context of total Federal expenditures, 
investments in, and sound management of the Corps water resources 
projects have beneficial effects that touch almost every facet of 
modern American society--navigation projects that provide the Nation 
with its lowest-cost mode of transportation for bulk commodities; flood 
control projects that protect the lives, homes and businesses of 
thousands of Americans; and recreation facilities that enable millions 
of visitors to relax and enjoy the beauty of our country's waters.
  I say that these kinds of decisions are extremely complex and 
controversial and are best left to the American people, acting through 
the Congress, to make. The stakes are so high and the potential impacts 
so great because national security, national competitiveness in the 
global market place, national health and welfare, and economic well-
being of the Midwest grain producers, just to mention a few 
considerations are at stake. And I,

[[Page E381]]

as a member of this body, stand ready to review all of the alternatives 
and to make the difficult decisions that are necessary to serve our 
great nation and the needs of my constituents.
  There are many outstanding public servants, military and civilian, 
involved in this and other Corps studies. I support the Corps' process 
and urge my colleagues to join me in expressing confidence that the 
Corps, working together with all of the interest groups, as it has so 
often in the past for great national benefit, will produce 
recommendations from the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Navigation 
Study that will stand the test of time.

                          ____________________