[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 83 (Tuesday, June 5, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 
                                  2013

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. ROBERT E. ANDREWS

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 31, 2012

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5325) making 
     appropriations for energy and water development and related 
     agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2013, and 
     for other purposes:

  Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Chair, I stand today in opposition to this 
legislation because it provides funding for the fundamentally flawed 
and wasteful Delaware Deepening project. Prior to the Army Corps' 
recent decision to partially fund this $300 million project, it had 
previously only been funded through Congressional earmarks for the 
previous 6 years.
  In June of 2002 the General Accounting Office (report # GA0 02 604) 
found that the Army Corps grossly misrepresented the costs and benefits 
of the project. The GAO determined that the economic analysis provided 
for the project contained a number of ``material errors,'' 
``miscalculations, invalid assumptions, and the use of significantly 
outdated information.'' Based on the GAO's findings, the benefit to 
cost ratio of the project is closer to 0.49 to 1 as opposed to the 1.4 
to 1 originally asserted by the Army Corps. A re-analysis completed by 
the GAO in 2010 (report # GA0 10 420) came to the same conclusion that 
the Delaware River Main Channel Deepening would not provide a good 
return on investment for the taxpayers. The latest re-analysis 
completed by the Army Corps last year fails to reexamine the costs. It 
also makes highly questionable projections about future benefits based 
on limited historical data.
  The OMB, at President Obama's direction, has said the federal 
government should only provide funding for projects that are a 
demonstrated benefit for the nation; i.e. projects that have a benefit 
cost ratio of at least 2.5 to 1. As noted by the Corps of Engineers, 
the Delaware River Deepening is the only navigation project nationwide 
that had a benefit cost ratio less than the 2.5 minimum criteria. 
Previous Presidents, both Democrat and Republican, have not supported 
this project because it makes no economic sense.
  Mr. Chair, there also continues to be an overwhelming number of 
serious environmental concerns raised by state and federal 
environmental protection agencies and experts about the project's 
impact on drinking water, commercial and recreational fish, shellfish, 
wetlands, wildlife, water quality--not to mention the hundreds of 
millions of dollars of economic revenue and jobs these natural 
resources support. This project is an economic loser and Congress 
should not be in the business of funding old earmarks.

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