So what say you! Playing games with our Ports is not a good idea. It is a huge engine driver of jobs and revenue for our wonderful state of Georgia! Mr. President & Vice President what must you be thinking? Shame on you for playing political games with us. What say you? WHY IS THE SAVANNAH RIVER DEEPENING NOT FUNDED? Posted: March 27, 2014 - 10:16pm | Updated: March 28, 2014 - 7:00am By Mary Mayle If you were a fly on the wall at Wednesday’s Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill, you would know why there was no money in the president’s 2015 budget for construction of the Savannah Harbor deepening project known as SHEP. It’s all about politics. During a 23-minute discussion of the project, two members of Georgia’s congressional delegation —— repeatedly questioned Jo-Ellen Darcy, U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Commander Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick as to why the Corps felt it could not sign off on a Project Partnership Agreement that would put the Savannah port project back on track. Neither Bostick nor Darcy would say directly that the decision was politically motivated, but neither could offer any other explanation that the congressmen accepted. Clearly uncomfortable — and clearly not the source of the project’s roadblock — both expressed support for SHEP, but referred to “the scope of the mitigation” having changed since the project was originally OK’d in 1999. “In the view of the administration, we cannot move forward without the Congressional reauthorization contained in the Water Resources Development Act,” Darcy said. That bill, passed by both the House and the Senate, is still working its way through conference committee as differences are reconciled. disagreed, citing language — authored by— in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014 that removed any legal impediment to federal action on the project. That bill, passed by Congress and signed by the president in January, clearly allows for the construction funding, they said. Asked whether the Corps had requested a legal opinion on the matter, Bostick replied, “Not at headquarters level.” He then conceded that the Corps’ Savannah District had, in fact, requested a legal opinion and was told by their attorneys they could proceed with the partnership agreement — the only thing standing in the way of dredging. “Do you have reason to doubt your Savannah District lawyers’ ability to make this call?” Congressmen asked, to which Bostick said, “Absolutely not.” Then, Bishop wanted to know, what was the decision to hold up the project based upon? “(If) that’s not a legal issue, it’s a political issue, wouldn’t you say?” he asked Bostwick. “It’s not a legal issue,” Bostwick responded. “The administration made a policy decision,” Darcy reiterated. “I just don’t get this,” Congressman said. “If we’re all for this, there’s got to be somebody who’s not for it, or it would have happened.”
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 18:34:37 +0000
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