WCI APPLAUDS INCLUSION OF $1 BILLION IN EMERGENCY FUNDING FOR U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS IN HOUSE COMMITTEE BILL

News Release Waterways Council, Inc. June 17, 2011

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Arlington,
VA –Waterways Council, Inc. (WCI) is encouraged by the House Appropriations
Committee’s approval yesterday of its version of the FY
2012 Energy and Water Appropriations bill and an amendment offered by House
Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen
providing $1.028 billion in emergency funding to the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers to repair damage caused by recent storms and floods on the Missouri
and Mississippi Rivers, and to prepare for future disasters. 
The
emergency funding is offset by a rescission of the remaining emergency High
Speed Rail funding that was originally approved in the stimulus bill. The
emergency funding in the amendment must still go through the legislative process
in the House and the Senate, and under even the best-case scenario, may not be
available until the Fall.  Accordingly, WCI again calls on the Obama
Administration to immediately submit to Congress a request for emergency
supplemental appropriations to address the dredging and other related needs that
have arisen on the entire Mississippi River system, and particularly on the
Lower Mississippi River, as a result of the unprecedented high water on that
system this year.  
“While
we appreciate the action taken by the House Appropriations Committee yesterday,
we need immediate funding to address the problems we face on the river system
right now, “said Cornel Martin, President/CEO of WCI.  “Our nation’s
waterways system, recently ravaged by natural disasters, needs critical funding
to help restore damage caused by flooding and high-water in order to allow our
exports to continue to reach world markets and our economy to rebound,” Martin
continued.
 
Waterways Council, Inc. is the
national public policy organization advocating a modern and well-maintained
national system of ports and inland waterways.  The group is supported by
waterways carriers, shippers, port authorities, shipping associations and
waterways advocacy groups from all regions of the country.  Visit
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