[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 93 (Tuesday, July 12, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H5644-H5645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT

  (Mr. BLUMENAUER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, the single most important vote of the 
week and one of the most important of the year is buried in the massive 
Water Resources Development Act coming before Congress this week: the 
Upper Mississippi Lock project. This is the ``Big Dig'' of water 
projects. Actually, it is like five or six big digs, since 10 percent 
of all water resources for years to come will be spent on this single 
project.
  I urge my colleagues to look closely at the amendment that I will be 
offering with my colleague, the gentleman

[[Page H5645]]

from Arizona (Mr. Flake), which will require that before this project 
moves from planning to construction in 5 years, that the minimum 
justification for the demand for barge traffic, the rationale for the 
project, is justified. Taxpayers deserve no less for the largest water 
resources project in America's history.

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