To the dismay of the Bush Administration, the House mustered its first successful veto override. Unfortunately it did not have to do with the war in Iraq or the damaging blows to our Constitution, but it did help the infrastructure of the country. The Water Resources Development Act is a comprehensive spending bill meant to fund numerous project across the U.S., dealing with everything from helping the navigation of rivers to restoring the Gulf Coast after being battered by Hurricane Katrina. Republicans tend to support the President despite Democrats writing good bills, but the projects affect too many GOP districts to be allowed to die by the President's pen.
From The Los Angeles Times:
The Water Resources Development Act authorizes about 900 projects across the country, including millions of dollars to protect the Gulf Coast from storms and to restore the Florida Everglades. For California, it authorizes $1.3 billion for projects, including $25 million for revitalizing the Los Angeles River and $106 million to continue shoring up levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and an author of the bill, said the president should respect the wishes of lawmakers. "We are elected too. We are close to the people. We know what their needs are," she said.
The bill was the fifth bill to be vetoed by Bush, but the president has increasingly waved his veto pen since Democrats took control of Congress. The override is the first since 1998, when Congress reversed President Clinton's veto of $287 million worth of military construction projects from a spending bill.
Both the House and Senate cleared the veto override hurdles with ease. Thirty-four Republican Senators joined 138 GOP members of Congress to help the Democratic majority thwart the President. Water is our most precious resource, and it must be treated that way by our government.
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