Washington, D.C. – Written Statement by Joe Theissen, Executive Director of Taxpayers for Common Sense for the April 2nd release of the American Rivers Most Endangered Rivers Report at the National Press Club:

I want to thank American Rivers and Rebecca Wodder for inviting me to this event and for producing this important report. The Most Endangered Rivers report details a compelling case for why the U.S. Army of Corps of Engineers needs to change the way it does business.

For far too long the Corps has padded its budget with boondoggles that don’t deliver, and handed taxpayers the bill. A huge part of that bill is a $52 billion construction backlog; comprised of economically unjustified projects, projects that destroy some of America’s most endangered rivers and that lie outside the Corps primary mission of navigation, flood control and environmental restoration. The backlog extends project completion time, adds additional cost, and creates pressure to appropriate more dollars in a Sisyphean attempt to reduce the growing list of projects that haven’t been completed.

With the return of budget deficits and the need to control federal spending as we prosecute the war on terrorism, it is more important than ever to exercise fiscal restraint at every level of government.

There is mounting evidence that the Bush Administration is placing a high priority on reforming the Corps of Engineers and cutting wasteful water projects. The forced resignation of the Corps’ top official, Mike Parker, shows that the Administration is very serious about defending its budget.

But the Bush Administration will need to show strong resolve while defending the budget against congressional appropriators. It's no secret that lawmakers on Capitol Hill have acted like kids in a candy store when enacting the Corps budget. Corps projects are extremely parochial in nature and especially popular during election years when the pressure is more intense to play the role of the congressional Easter Bunny.

In fact, protecting the Corps budget is one of the few instances recently where there has been bipartisan consensus on Capitol Hill – the ultimate opportunity for lawmakers to scratch each other's backs. Year in and year out, Congress inflates spending bills with pork. The continued actions taken by the Administration to defend its budget and bringing in new pro-reform leadership at the Corps will send a strong message to Capitol Hill that profligate spending as usual will be not be tolerated.

In the fiscal year 2003 budget, the Administration has proposed a $4 billion budget for the Corps of Engineers, nearly $500 million less than Congress approved in the fiscal year 2002 budget.

The Bush Administration has also cut or reduced spending on three projects mentioned in the Most Endangered Rivers report including: Apalachicola River Navigation, Big Sunflower River Dredging and Yazoo Pumps, and the Grand Prairie Irrigation project.

The fight for reform has momentum on Capitol Hill. Senators Robert Smith (R-NH), Russell Feingold (D-WI), and John McCain (R-AZ) recently introduced a major bill that will allow the Corps to build good projects faster while ending federal involvement in wasteful projects that benefit narrow special interests. This bill would implement an independent peer review study process, focus on reducing the size of the project backlog, and ensure that whoever benefits from Corps projects pays their fair share.

The American Rivers report is just further evidence that the Corps of Engineers is in desperate need of reform. Our nations rivers are in danger, taxpayer dollars are being squandered and the time to fix this agency is now.