110307 Bush Vetoes Water Bill

November 3, 2007

Bush Vetoes Water Bill, Citing Cost of $23 Billion

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 — President Bush on Friday vetoed a bill authorizing $23 billion in water resource projects, calling it overly expensive, and Congressional Democrats responded angrily, accusing him of insensitivity to the hurricane-damaged Gulf Coast, a big beneficiary of the legislation. They pledged to override him.

The bill, the Water Resources Development Act, would authorize $3.5 billion in work for hurricane-ravaged Louisiana, nearly $2 billion for efforts to save the Everglades and additional sums for a host of other projects favored by lawmakers. Critics said the bill not only was costly but also failed to provide vital changes to the often criticized Army Corps of Engineers, which would do most of the work.

Mr. Bush has now cast five vetoes as president, four since Democrats took control of Congress in January. None have been overridden, although this legislation passed both houses with more than the two-thirds majorities needed to override.

In his veto message, the president noted that when the bill emerged from a House-Senate conference committee, its cost had risen more than 50 percent above the cost of legislation originally passed by the two houses. He also said a backlog of projects for the Corps of Engineers meant that many projects in the bill would never be financed or completed.

“This bill lacks fiscal discipline,” he said. “This authorization bill makes promises to local communities that the Congress does not have a track record of keeping.”

“The bill’s excessive authorization for over 900 projects and programs,” he added, “exacerbates the massive backlog of ongoing corps construction projects, which will require an additional $38 billion in future appropriations to complete.”

The House majority leader, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, promised a swift override vote, scheduled for Tuesday. Mr. Hoyer denounced the veto, calling it “another example of this president obstinately standing in the way of bipartisan legislation.” The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, predicted an override and accused Mr. Bush of being “out of touch with the American people.”

While lawmakers in both chambers and of both parties quickly issued statements criticizing the veto, some taxpayer rights’ groups praised it, agreeing with Mr. Bush that it was too expensive. And Senator Russ Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, who has led the calls for overhauling the corps by adding independent review of its project designs, among other things, said Congress ought to use the veto as an opportunity to improve the bill.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/03/washington/03water.html