WRDA Ready for Floor, Corn Growers Take to the Hill (7-13-06)

While members of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) take their issues to Capitol Hill for congressional visits during Corn Congress this week, topping their agendas is the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA).

The WRDA legislation includes authorization for construction of seven new 1,200 -foot locks on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, a key issue to corn growers as 60 percent of all corn exports go to market via the Mississippi River. After months of internal negotiations, the current WRDA legislation has finally  cleared the required Senate procedural steps and is now ready for floor action.

NCGA is continuing to urge Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to call the bill up for floor debate and vote immediately.

“This is a critical point in the process of getting WRDA placed on the calendar for Senate action,” said Bill Chase, NCGA Production and Stewardship Action Team chair. “The timing could not be better with close to 200 growers in Washington to remind their senators and Senate Majority Leader Frist of the importance this legislation has for the entire nation.”

Chase noted WRDA is not just a locks and dams bill, but also includes important measures to improve our vital transportation infrastructure as well as put forward significant t ecosystem restoration efforts.

“This bill is about maintaining an infrastructure that is critical to all businesses and consumers, not just producers,” Chase said. “It is modernization to our port system, environmental restoration and flood control. With the potential use of barges for ethanol and the impact we felt during the last hurricane season, what happens if the river shuts down again because of lock failure? It is vital to get this legislation finalized now.”

The final WRDA bill was developed under the bi-partisan leadership of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. This bill is a full substitute to the original bill introduced in April 2005.