[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 40 (Monday, October 9, 2000)]
[Pages 2282-2283]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Energy and Water Development Appropriations Legislation

October 2, 2000

    Today Congress passed a deeply flawed energy/water appropriations 
bill that threatens major environmental harm by blocking our efforts to 
modernize operations on the

[[Page 2283]]

Missouri River. An anti-environmental rider attached to the bill would 
not only jeopardize the survival of three threatened and endangered 
species but would also establish a dangerous precedent aimed at barring 
a Federal agency from obeying one of our Nation's landmark environmental 
statutes. Accordingly, I will veto this bill when it reaches my desk.
    While this bill funds scores of special projects for special 
interests, it fails to provide sufficient funding for priorities in the 
national interest--including environmental restoration of the Florida 
Everglades and the California Bay-Delta, and our strategy to restore 
endangered salmon in the Pacific Northwest. It also fails to fund 
efforts to research and develop nonpolluting sources of energy through 
solar and renewable technologies that are vital to America's energy 
security.
    I urge Congress to resolve these issues in an environmentally sound 
manner and to quickly produce an energy/water bill I can sign. While we 
are now in the first week of the new fiscal year, Congress still has 
sent me only two of the 13 appropriations bills. Congress should 
complete its work without delay.