Senate Names WRDA Conferees; Conference with House Up Next, NCGA Notes (9-20-06)

The Senate named its conferees and agreed to conference the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) with the House, the next step in getting WRDA passed before Congress adjourns in October, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) notes.

WRDA is a priority piece of legislation for NCGA and its affiliated state organizations. The bill includes authorization for construction of seven new 1,200 foot locks on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.

“We are very pleased the Senate has named their conferees, as the process of finalizing a conference report is closer than ever before,” said Gerald Tumbleson, NCGA president. “NCGA views the passage of the WRDA legislation as a vital step in modernizing the transportation infrastructure on the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and as a significant step toward addressing national waterways infrastructure needs.”

With the House and Senate conferees named, the two chambers can officially work out the differences between the House and Senate bills. Once agreements on the bills have been finalized, the House and Senate will vote on the final conference report.  Upon passage of the conference report, it is then sent to President George W. Bush for his signature. 

Tumbleson also noted the naming of conferees could not have been better. Tumbleson is in Washington, D.C., this week testifying before the House Agriculture Committee.

“NCGA plans to make visits this week to a number of the conferees to deliver the message that this piece of legislation should be completed before Congress leaves for October recess.”

The Senate conferees for WRDA are: Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), who will be chairing the conference; Kit Bond (R-Mo.); John Warner (R-Va.); George Voinovich (R-Ohio); Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.); Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska); David Vitter (R-La.); Jim Jeffords (D-Vt.); Max Baucus (D-Mont.); Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.); Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.); and Tom Carper (D-Del.).

In addition, NCGA, last week issued a legislative alert urging growers to contact their members of congress and urge support of the bill.

Click on the Call to Action icon on www.ncga.com to contact your legislator.