Marine Log - December 2007 - (Page 15)

INSIDEWASHINGTON Congress overrides veto of vital maritime measure T he aroma wafting from the Washington barbecue last month wasn’t skewered pork, it was steamed duck. Steamed lame duck to be exact, as the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 became the subject of the first veto override of the Bush Administration. The WRDA is a vital piece of legislation for the maritime industry. It addresses a sevenyear backlog of water infrastructure projects as well as a number of post-Katrina programs in the New Orleans area to deal with hurricane protection and measures to protect ecosystems such as the Florida Everglades. However, as noted here last month, it also had its share of pork. “The House of Representatives took a $15 billion bill into negotiations with a $14 billion bill from the Senate and instead of splitting the difference, emerged with a Washington compromise that costs over $23 billion,” noted President George W. Bush as he vetoed the measure. That wasn’t the end of things, though. The bill had been passed by “veto-proof” majorities of 81 to 12 in the Senate and 381 to 40 in the House. The President returned the bill to Congress which rather promptly overrode his veto— by 79 to 14 in the Senate and by 361 to 54 in the House. The power of pork? Maybe. But it could also be that the veto attracted the opposition of a very broad range of organizations able to put pressure on their Congressmen. These included the American Waterways Operators and the American Association of Port Authorities, which greeted the veto with the promise of a “full court press” on Congress by seaports and related port industries. W. F. Marcuson, Ph.D., P.E., Hon.M.ASCE, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) called the veto “ill advised, and contrary to the national interest.” Environmental and conservancy groups also piled on. “This historic legislation is crucial to the protection of some of America's most sensitive and valuable ecosystems,” said April Gromnicki, Audubon’s Director of Ecosystem Restoration. “Congress must stand up for these American treasures by overriding the President’s veto.” “WRDA has important reforms and funding for critical projects, including directives to bolster New Orleans’ levees and plug the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet,” said Paul Harrison, Coastal Louisiana Project Director for Environmental Defense. Faced with pleas from so many quarters, Congress responded with an override that probably had as much to do with responding to public pressure as it had to do with the particular pork in the WRDA. Inside the beltway, the veto override is likely to be seen as illustrating the limitations of lame duck administrations. For the rest of us, the story will hopefully now be one of pressing ahead with long overdue maritime infrastructure upgrades and maintenance. www.marinelog.com DECEMBER 2007 MARINE LOG 15 http://www.smithberger.com http://www.securewest.com http://www.smithberger.com http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - December 2007

Marine Log - December 2007 Contents Editorial Second Thoughts Update Inside Washington Warning: Shipbuilding Over-Supply by 2011 Steely Resolve: Cutting Injuries What’s on Your Mind? Newsmakers Tech News Contracts Events InfoDirect Website Directory ML Marketplace Last Word

Marine Log - December 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.