The David vs. Goliath showdown over a proposed dam of biblical spending proportions continues on the congressional battlefield. Only now the Auburn saga continues with heavy-weight, pork-loving pals in one corner and a 92 pound college-rookie in the other.
Lobbying against the dam is Tina Andolina, a college student from California. Ms. Andolina went door-to-door collecting money from students, faculty and businesses to fly to Washington, DC to slug it out with Auburn dam supporters. Ms. Andolina joins the 140-plus environmental and taxpayer groups which make up the grassroots campaign against the unneeded $1 billion dam.
National media attention about Auburn Dam has captured the public eye last week with articles appearing in the National Journal on June 8 and the New York Times on June 9. The articles were followed by a June 13 New York Times opinion editorial by Rep. Thomas Petri (R-WI) who condemned the project as a “pork barrel monster,” and a June 14 New York Times letter to the editor by Ms. Andolina.
The media attention arrived in anticipation of a June 13 mark-up of the Water Resources Development Act in the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Mysteriously, however, in a last minute decision, the scheduled mark-up was postponed “until further notice.”
Reports say the markup was canceled because dam supporters did not have the votes to pass the billion dollar boondoggle. News accounts of the delay cite last-minute efforts by Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and GOP Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX) to bully committee members into voting for the dam. Former Republican House Minority Leader Robert Michel (R-IL) has also been logging phone calls to muster pro-dam votes, although he appears to know nothing about the issue, according to one news article.
Also, the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce is asking its local Representative, Robert Borski (D-PA) to vote for the project at the request of Chamber officials in Sacramento.
Auburn Dam is one of 47 budget cuts recommended by the Green Scissors Campaign, a coalition of environmentalists, deficit hawks and taxpayer groups, including TC$.
House votes to cut merger money
On June 13' the House approved by voice vote an amendment to the FY97 Defense Appropriations bill that would end the practice of reimbursing defense contractors for costs incurred during corporate mergers.
