[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 62 (Monday, April 27, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E979]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ADDITIONAL CALIFORNIA 49TH DISTRICT PROJECTS FUNDED IN THE FY2009 
                       OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS ACT

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                          HON. DARRELL E. ISSA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 27, 2009

  Mr. ISSA. Madam Speaker, on Wednesday, March 11, 2009, in an 
extension of remarks on the House floor regarding H.R. 105, the Omnibus 
Appropriations Act of 2009, I stated that Members need to think of the 
future of this Nation, rise above their own self-interests, and 
advocate for the removal of all earmarks from all present and future 
appropriations bills until we get the federal deficit under control. It 
is a shame that the Speaker and the Democratic leadership have not been 
willing to take the initiative and do this on their own.
  The Democratic leadership has made no significant effort to perform 
real earmark reform during this economic crisis. Rather than 
eliminating costly earmarks, and excess spending, under the leadership 
of President Obama, the Speaker and Democrats push to implement the 
largest budget in our nation's history; a $3.55 trillion budget that 
will dramatically increase the deficit and likely bankrupt our 
children's children. The American people are asking that the member's 
of this body lead us out of this crisis, but it is apparent that the 
President and the majority leadership can do nothing more than throw 
money at the wrong problems and tax and lambast those that can create 
the right solutions. The majority leadership needs to understand that 
unbridled government spending is not the answer to this crisis, and 
that earmarks continue to be a problem that plagues this body and not a 
solution.
  Since being reelected to Congress last November, I have not made any 
earmark project requests. The projects that were included in H.R. 1105 
were not done so at my behest in this Congress. As I stated before, I 
am highly disappointed that, faced with the enormity of the current 
federal deficit and the unprecedented amount of federal spending that 
has occurred, the House and Senate majority leadership and 
Appropriators did not take the opportunity to start showing fiscal 
restraint by removing Congressional Earmarks from the fiscal year 2009 
Omnibus Appropriations Act. Had I been approached by the appropriations 
committee prior to the passage of this bill, I would have asked for the 
removal of the listed projects.
  This bill is another example of a missed opportunity to begin the 
real reform that the American public truly seeks. Members must realize 
that we have an obligation to the public to work to eliminate earmarks 
from future appropriations bills until we get deficit spending under 
control.
  Below are two requests that were made in the 110th Congress that the 
Democratic majority decided to include in this spending bill. While 
they are projects of merit, I did not seek out support for their 
inclusion in this Congress.
  Bureau of Reclamation--Water and Related Resources
  Rancho California Water District
  $50,000
  The bill included funding through the Energy and Water Appropriations 
Subcommittee for the Rancho California Water District, which will 
provide for additional recycled water reuse of 16,000 acre feet (AF) 
per year by converting water district's west side agriculture area to 
recycled water systems (1 AF equates to approximately 326,000 gallons 
or enough water to supply two families for one year). It will also 
increase use of annual seasonal storage in Vail Lake reservoir by 
10,000 AF per year by constructing 48-inch pipeline to transport raw 
water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) 
to store in Vail Lake. It will also convert majority of agricultural 
delivery system from treated water potable system to recycled and raw 
water non-potable system by building delivery system for raw water 
relieving 5,000 AF/year of treated water demands
  GSA
  San Diego Courthouse, California
  $110,362,000
  The bill also included funding through the Financial Services 
Appropriations Subcommittee for the San Diego, California Courthouse 
Construction Project. Construction funds for the San Diego courthouse 
project were originally appropriated, as requested by the General 
Services Administration (GSA) and the Judicial Conference of the United 
States, in FY 2006. The San Diego Courthouse is a critical project for 
the region considering that the existing courthouse is an extremely 
busy border court, which processes hundreds of prisoners on a daily 
basis. The additional funds would be used to expedite completion of 
this project.

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