[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23806]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                          MIAMI RIVER CLEANUP

  (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, now that the President has signed into 
law the first Federal appropriations to clean up the Miami River, that 
was in the fiscal year 2000 energy water appropriation bill. The next 
step will be up to the governments at the State and local levels as 
well as the broad coalition of community groups represented by the 
Miami River Commission and the Miami River Marine Group.
  The Miami-Dade County manager has reiterated our county's support for 
this key environmental project. This is the beginning of a 4-year 
phased dredging project proposed by the Miami River Commission with the 
assistance of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
  This $5 million Federal initial appropriation will begin maintenance 
dredging of the river which will cost $64 million from Federal, State, 
and local sources. The Miami River project shows what can be 
accomplished when governments at all levels join with grass-roots 
activists to achieve a common goal. The cleanup will ensure the 
continued growth of the Miami River as one of our Nation's critical 
shipping links to the Caribbean and Latin America.
  We congratulate the Miami-Dade County manager. Let us do our job at 
the local level now.

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