U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON : 

1 

69–011 2007

110th Congress, 1st Session – – – – – – – – – – – – – House Document 110–71 

VETO MESSAGE ON H.R. 1495 

MESSAGE 

FROM

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRANSMITTING

NOTIFICATION OF THE VETO OF H.R. 1495, THE WATER 

RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 2007 

NOVEMBER 5, 2007.—And ordered to be printed 


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(1) 

To the House of Representatives: 

I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 1495, the 

‘‘Water Resources Development Act of 2007.’’

This bill lacks fiscal discipline. I fully support funding for water 

resources projects that will yield high economic and environmental 

returns to the Nation and each year my budget has proposed reasonable and responsible funding, including $4.9 billion for 2008, to 

support the Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) main missions. However, this authorization bill makes promises to local communities 

that the Congress does not have a track record of keeping. The 

House of Representatives took a $15 billion bill into negotiations 

with a $14 billion bill from the Senate and instead of splitting the 

difference, emerged with a Washington compromise that costs over 

$23 billion. This is not fiscally responsible, particularly when local 

communities have been waiting for funding for projects already in 

the pipeline. The bill’s excessive authorization for over 900 projects 

and programs exacerbates the massive backlog of ongoing Corps 

construction projects, which will require an additional $38 billion 

in future appropriations to complete. 

This bill does not set priorities. The authorization and funding 

of Federal water resources projects should be focused on those 

projects with the greatest merit that are also a Federal responsibility. My Administration has repeatedly urged the Congress to authorize only those projects and programs that provide a high return 

on investment and are within the three main missions of the Corps’

civil works program: facilitating commercial navigation, reducing 

the risk of damage from floods and storms, and restoring aquatic 

ecosystems. This bill does not achieve that goal. This bill promises 

hundreds of earmarks and hinders the Corps’ ability to fulfill the 

Nation’s critical water resources needs—including hurricane protection for greater New Orleans, flood damage reduction for Sacramento, and restoration of the Everglades—while diverting resources from the significant investments needed to maintain existing Federal water infrastructure. American taxpayers should not 

be asked to support a pork-barrel system of Federal authorization 

and funding where a project’s merit is an afterthought. 

I urge the Congress to send me a fiscally responsible bill that 

sets priorities. Americans sent us to Washington to achieve results 

and be good stewards of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars. This 

bill violates that fundamental commitment. For the reasons outlined above, I must veto H.R. 1495. 

GEORGE W. BUSH. 

THE WHITE HOUSE, November 2, 2007. 

Æ 

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