July 19, 2006 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S7813 CONCLUSION OF MORNING committee of jurisdiction, my friend those who help pay for Corps projects BUSINESS from Montana, Senator BAUCUS, made either through their Federal tax dol- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morning a commitment to me to address the lars or, in many cases, through taxes business is closed. issues that plagued the Corps. they pay at a local level as part of a At that time I sought to offer an non-Federal cost-sharing arrange- f amendment to WRDA 2000 to create an ment—can rest easy knowing that WATER RESOURCES independent peer review process for the their flood control projects are not DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2005 Army Corps. In response to my amend- going to fail them, their ecosystem res- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under ment, the bill managers adopted lan- toration projects are going to protect the previous order, the Senate will re- guage to authorize the National Acad- our environmental treasures, and their sume consideration of S. 728, which the emy of Sciences to study peer review. navigation projects are based on sound clerk will report. This study has long been complete, and economics and reliable traffic projec- The assistant legislative clerk read the final recommendation was clear. In tions. as follows: a 2002 report—Review Procedures for Much of the work that has gone into A bill (S. 728) to provide for the consider- Water Resources Planning—the Na- reforming the Corps was done before ation and development of water and related tional Academy of Sciences rec- our Nation saw a major U.S. city laid resources, to authorize the Secretary of the ommended creation of a formalized to waste. When Hurricane Katrina Army to construct various projects for im- process to independently review costly rocked New Orleans, none of us imag- provements to rivers and harbors of the or controversial Corps projects. ined the horrors that would ensue. United States, and for other purposes. Four years later, and with Corps re- None of us imagined that much of the The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- form bills in the 106th, 107th, 108th, and flooding—much of the flooding—that ator from Wisconsin. 109th Congresses, we are still trying to occurred could have possibly been pre- Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I enact such a mechanism. vented had some of the reforms we will would like to start off by making a I would just like to note that I am be discussing today been in place dec- general statement about the amend- pleased to see my friend involved in ades ago. ments we are going to offer, and I as- this issue, particularly given the role Despite every wish to the contrary, sume that time will come off the time he played in 2000. My only hope is, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina ex- of the amendment I will offer, the after 6 years of work on this issue, we posed serious problems that this body amendment on independent peer re- can go home tonight knowing we did will be addressing for years to come. view. Is that correct? right by the taxpayers, by the citizens Many have stood on this floor and in The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without of our country who rely on sound Corps their States and talked about what objection, that is the case. projects to protect their families, their must be done to responsibly move for- Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I will property, and the natural systems they ward in a post-Katrina landscape. And make a few remarks, and then I would want to protect for future generations. many of those discussions have, of like to turn to the distinguished rank- Yes, Corps reform has been a work in course, centered, appropriately, on the ing member of the committee, my progress. In 2001, I introduced a stand- Federal Emergency Management Agen- friend, Senator JEFFORDS, for a few re- alone bill to modernize the Corps. cy. marks. Then after he has talked, I will Later that Congress, I cosponsored a I am here to say that if you were out- offer the amendment. bill with Senator SMITH from New raged by FEMA’s poor response, like Mr. President, today the Senate will Hampshire, Senator Daschle of South me, then you should be equally out- consider two tremendously important Dakota, Senator ENSIGN of Nevada, and raged by problems with the Corps and amendments to the Water Resources Senator MCCAIN, the senior Senator the process that has determined where Development Act. Those amendments from Arizona. In March 2004 I intro- limited Federal resources are spent. are the Feingold-McCain-Carper- duced another stand-alone Corps re- While any hurricane that makes Lieberman-Jeffords-Collins inde- form bill along with Senator Daschle landfall will leave some level of de- pendent peer review amendment and and Senator MCCAIN. Then in the struction behind, the country has been the McCain-Feingold-Lieberman-Fein- spring of 2005, Senator MCCAIN and I of- shocked to learn that there were engi- stein prioritization amendment. fered another bill detailing the changes neering flaws in the New Orleans lev- As many know, I have tried to work we hoped to see in the agency. And, fi- ees, and that important information for a long time to modernize the Army nally, this spring we introduced an- was ignored by the Corps. According to Corps of Engineers to ensure that this other stand-alone bill. one of the independent reviewers look- Federal agency is best situated to serve What these efforts have been about is ing into what happened with the levee our great Nation. I have worked along- restoring credibility and account- failures, the causes of the failures ‘‘are side Senator MCCAIN in these efforts, ability to this Federal agency that has firmly founded in organizational and and I thank him for his dedication to been rocked by scandal, overextended institutional failures that are pri- helping me bring attention to the need to the tune of a 35-year backlog, and marily focused in the Corps of Engi- for congressional leadership to address constrained by a gloomy fiscal picture. neers.’’ what many have noted as fundamental We can do that today. We can restore Now, I had the chance to visit New problems with the Corps. credibility and accountability to the Orleans a little over a week ago, and I I want to be clear about my inten- Corps by passing the amendments that can attest that the sentiment toward tions with the amendments we will my friend, the Senator from Arizona, the Corps is anything but cordial. offer this morning, as well as our other and I will be offering. There is a lot of anger toward the efforts involving the Corps. We just Some have said I have an ax to grind Corps down there, and we have a re- want to get this agency back on track with the Corps. That is not true. The sponsibility in Congress to address it. to serve the interests of all Americans. reason I am dedicated to improving Additionally, following the hurri- That is what it is about, period. this embattled agency is that I care cane, we have faced questions from our As many have noted over the past about the Corps, and I want it to suc- constituents about where the Corps few days, I have been trying to bring ceed. My home State of Wisconsin and was spending its limited budget and up this issue for quite some time. In numerous other States across our why. We have a responsibility to ad- fact, I have waited 6 long years to come country rely on the Corps. From the dress those legitimate concerns, too. down to the floor of the Senate to push Great Lakes to the Mississippi, the The Times-Picayune of New Orleans for meaningful reform of the U.S. Corps is involved in providing aid to recently said the following: Army Corps of Engineers. navigation, environmental restoration, Back in 2000, during debate on final Efforts to reform the agency, the Corps, flood control, and many other valuable are critical for this state [meaning Lou- passage of the last enacted WRDA, the services. isiana, of course] which—after the levee fail- former chairman of the Environment I want to improve the way this agen- ures during Hurricane Katrina—could serve and Public Works Committee and the cy operates, so that not only Wiscon- as the poster child [the poster child] for the current ranking member of the sub- sinites but all Americans—particularly Corps’ shortcomings. VerDate Aug 31 2005 03:53 Jul 20, 2006 Jkt 049060 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G19JY6.007 S19JYPT1 ycherry on PROD1PC64 with SENATE S7814 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 19, 2006 The best chance for changing the way the The Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. FEIN- days of receipt of a written request for a con- Corps operates is through reforms sought by GOLD], for himself, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. CARPER, troversy determination by any party, that Sens. John McCain and Russ Feingold. Mr. LIEBERMAN, and Ms. COLLINS, proposes the project is controversial because— And finally, an amendment numbered 4681. (i) there is a significant dispute regarding Unfortunately, not everyone in Congress is Mr. FEINGOLD. I ask unanimous the size, nature, potential safety risks, or ef- interested in changing the way the Corps consent that reading of the amendment fects of the project; or does business. The McCain-Feingold amend- be dispensed with. (ii) there is a significant dispute regarding ments face opposition and a rival set of The PRESIDING OFFICER.