[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 170 (Monday, November 5, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H12458-H12459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2007--VETO MESSAGE FROM THE 
          PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (H. DOC. NO. 110-71)

  The SPEAKER pro tempore laid before the House the following veto 
message from the President of the United States:

To the House of Representatives:
  I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 1495, the ``Water 
Resources Development Act of 2007.''
  This bill lacks fiscal discipline. I fully support funding for water 
resources projects that will yield high economic and environmental 
returns to the Nation and each year my budget has proposed reasonable 
and responsible funding, including $4.9 billion for 2008, to support 
the Army Corps of Engineers' (Corps) main missions. However, this 
authorization bill makes

[[Page H12459]]

promises to local communities that the Congress does not have a track 
record of keeping. The House of Representatives took a $15 billion bill 
into negotiations with a $14 billion bill from the Senate and instead 
of splitting the difference, emerged with a Washington compromise that 
costs over $23 billion. This is not fiscally responsible, particularly 
when local communities have been waiting for funding for projects 
already in the pipeline. The bill's excessive authorization for over 
900 projects and programs exacerbates the massive backlog of ongoing 
Corps construction projects, which will require an additional $38 
billion in future appropriations to complete.
  This bill does not set priorities. The authorization and funding of 
Federal water resources projects should be focused on those projects 
with the greatest merit that are also a Federal responsibility. My 
Administration has repeatedly urged the Congress to authorize only 
those projects and programs that provide a high return on investment 
and are within the three main missions of the Corps' civil works 
program: facilitating commercial navigation, reducing the risk of 
damage from floods and storms, and restoring aquatic ecosystems. This 
bill does not achieve that goal. This bill promises hundreds of 
earmarks and hinders the Corps' ability to fulfill the Nation's 
critical water resources needs--including hurricane protection for 
greater New Orleans, flood damage reduction for Sacramento, and 
restoration of the Everglades--while diverting resources from the 
significant investments needed to maintain existing Federal water 
infrastructure. American taxpayers should not be asked to support a 
pork-barrel system of Federal authorization and funding where a 
project's merit is an afterthought.
  I urge the Congress to send me a fiscally responsible bill that sets 
priorities. Americans sent us to Washington to achieve results and be 
good stewards of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars. This bill violates 
that fundamental commitment. For the reasons outlined above, I must 
veto H.R. 1495.
                                                      George W. Bush.  
                                     The White House, November 2, 2007.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The objections of the President will be 
spread at large upon the Journal, and the veto message and the bill 
will be printed as a House document.
  Pursuant to the order of the House of Thursday, November 1, 2007, 
further consideration of the veto message and the bill will be 
postponed until tomorrow.

                          ____________________