St. Croix Crossing ``Mega-Bridge'' Opposed By Taxpayers For Common Sense

Floor Speech

* Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, today, the Natural Resources Committee is marking up H.R. 850 which grants an exemption from the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in order to allow construction of a $700 million mega-bridge connecting Minnesota and Wisconsin across the St. Croix River. This bridge would be located less than six miles from the eight lane Interstate 94 crossing of the St. Croix. At a time of extremely scarce transportation dollars and tremendous need (Minnesota and Wisconsin have more than 2,000 structurally deficient bridges in need of repairs) building a single mega-bridge with a cost of $700 million is fiscally irresponsible and terrible public policy.

* I strongly oppose H.R. 850 and I am not alone. The conservative watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense sent a letter today to members of the Natural Resources Committee opposing H.R. 850 and states, ``accepting a project that is too big and too expensive for the sake of speeding project delivery would be irresponsible at any time, and even more so while we are doing everything possible to find our way out of a budgetary mess.''

* A St. Croix River crossing that is affordable, meets transportation and safety needs, and responsibly scaled should be built, but H.R. 850 and its companion in the U.S. Senate, S. 1134, are bills that should be rejected. I appreciate that the willingness of Taxpayers for Common Sense for voicing their concerns about this mega-bridge exemption and I have enclosed their letter to the House Natural Resources Committee for printing in the Congressional Record.

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