[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 41 (Monday, October 16, 2000)]
[Page 2378]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Returning Without Approval the ``Energy and Water 
Development Appropriations Act, 2001''

October 7, 2000

    Today I vetoed a deeply flawed energy/water appropriations bill that 
threatens major environmental harm by blocking our efforts to modernize 
operations on the Missouri River. This antienvironmental rider 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.
    Additionally, this bill funded scores of special projects for 
special interests. It failed 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 failed 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 quickly produce an energy/water bill I can sign.