| Senate
shows support for Pump Project
Mississippi
senators in January easily beat back an attempt to cut funding
for a controversial Delta flood control project in the first
challenge on the Senate floor to a Mississippi project since
Sen. Trent Lott resigned as majority leader.
By a
68-29 vote, senators killed an amendment by Sen. John McCain
(R-Ariz.) to slash $14 million in startup construction funds
for the Yazoo Pumping Plant from a catch-all spending bill.
The total cost of the project, first authorized in 1941, is
estimated at $181 million.
McCain
said the pumping plant would drain 200,000 acres of wetland
for the benefit of a few wealthy landowners to collect federal
farm subsidies.
Senator
Thad Cochran said that wasn't true. He said the latest plan
by the Corps of Engineers would acquire 62,000 acres of farmland
for reforestation. "The purpose is not to create new
agricultural opportunities," said Cochran. "It is
to prevent the flooding of schools and hospitals and businesses."
Lott
made a point of saying that there are over 1,000 homes that
will be protected by the project. He met last week with five
residents from Sharkey/Issaquena Counties who wanted the plant
built.
Tennessee
and Arkansas senators sided with the Mississippians on the
vote. - MSLB
From
The Commercial Appeal
January 24, 2003
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