OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2007

Date: May 24, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Energy


ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2007 -- (House of Representatives - May 24, 2006)

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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Chairman, in accordance with earmark reform proposals currently under consideration in the House and Senate, I would like to place into the record a listing of the Congressionally-directed project in my home state of Idaho that is contained within the report to this bill.

The project provides $3 million within the Army Corps of Engineers Section 595 program for rural water infrastructure upgrades in Idaho communities. The funding was authorized in the last Water Resources Development Act.

This funding is critical to assisting rural Idaho communities in upgrading their water and wastewater treatment facilities. In many cases, this funding is required to comply with unfunded mandates passed down by this Congress and federal agencies.

Perhaps the most striking example of why the federal government has a responsibility to assist these communities is the burden the EPA's revised arsenic standard is having across America.

In the small Idaho town of Castleford, the Mayor and City Council had to lay off their only law enforcement officer so they could pay for the arsenic study required by EPA's unfunded mandate. This small town of just a few hundred people has been forced to come up with at least $2 million--a sum that would have been wholly impossible without some assistance from the federal government.

In addition, these funds help rural communities in Idaho facing economic hardship--like the rural community of Rupert. Rupert, just last week, learned that one of its major employers, Kraft Foods, is closing its cheese plant in the community. The vital water funding in this bill will assist Rupert in attracting new businesses by offering improved services at lower costs than would otherwise be possible.

I'm proud to have obtained this funding for Idaho communities and look forward to working with them in the future to meet their water resource challenges.

I appreciate the opportunity to provide a list of Congressionally-directed projects in my region and an explanation of my support for them.

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