Day, Demmer, Davis Disregard First District

02/17/2008

Would First District Republican Candidates Let Bush Kill Lewis and Clark Regional Water System?


St. Paul, MN (February 12, 2008) President Bush failed to include federal funding in his Fiscal Year 2009 budget for the Lewis and Clark Regional Water System in southwestern Minnesota. The Minnesota DFL Party asked whether First District Republican congressional candidates Dick Day, Randy Demmer and Brian Davis will support the project or support the president.

“President Bush’s proposed 2009 budget would leave southwestern Minnesota high and dry. But fortunately a bipartisan group of representatives and senators — including Representative Tim Walz — have shown that they will stand up and fight for their constituents,” said Minnesota DFL Chair Brian Melendez.

“The people of the First District deserve to know whether Republican candidates for Congress will serve Minnesotans or their Republican masters,” Melendez continued. “Dick Day and Brian Davis have already said that they won’t use every tool in the toolbox to fight for the district, leaving Minnesotans on their own, and Randy Demmer hasn’t taken a stand. So the question remains: Will they abandon the people of southwestern Minnesota or fight for them?”


Bush Abandons First District; Will Day, Demmer, Davis Abandon It, Too?

Lewis and Clark Regional Water System Essential for Southwestern Minnesota. The Lewis and Clark Regional Water System would provide much-needed, safe drinking water for 300,000 people in a 5,000-square-mile area of southwestern Minnesota, northwest Iowa and southeastern South Dakota. Planning for and construction of the system has been underway since the early 1990s. Keeping the project on track for its scheduled 2019 completion will require $35 million per year in funding from the federal government. [Lewis and Clark Regional Water System website, accessed 2/12/08; Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 2/5/08]

Bush Previously Expressed Support for the Project. In remarks in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on March 9, 2001, President Bush said, “A priority is to work with states on important development projects. And the Lewis and Clark Rural Water Project is a project that will be in my budget, and something that we can work together on.” [Lewis and Clark Regional Water System website, accessed 2/12/08]

Bush Requests Zero Dollars for Lewis and Clark Project in Proposed 2009 Budget. “President Bush cut all federal funding for the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System in his proposed $3.1 trillion budget Monday, a move that drew outrage from South Dakota's senators and left local officials shaking their heads… ‘It’s beyond stunning,’ [Lewis and Clark Executive Director Troy] Larson said. ‘In our opinion, it makes no sense whatsoever.’” [Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 2/5/08]

Federal Elected Officials Implored to Ignore Bush, Fight for Project. “It’s just shocking the administration would zero the project out, but our congressional delegation has been able to bump the administration number up every year,” said Scott Hain, general manager of Worthington Public Utilities. [Worthington Daily Globe, 2/6/08]

Bipartisan Funding Request in 2008 Omnibus Kept Lewis and Clark Project on Track. The $27-million appropriation was secured by a bipartisan group of six senators and three representatives that represent the region, including: Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN), Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-SD), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA); Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD); Rep. Steve King (R-IA), Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN); and Sen. John Thune (R-SD). [House of Representatives Committee on Rules, Text of the House Amendments to Senate Amendment to H.R. 2764, Joint Explanatory Statement to Accompany Consolidated Appropriations Amendment, Division C--Energy and Water, p. 249, accessed 2/12/08]

After Bush Abandoned Project, Earmark May be Necessary Again. “Last year, the project received almost $27 million in funding, a figure below the project’s request of $35 million but well in excess of Bush’s proposal of $15 million.” The states of Minnesota and Iowa have already paid their full share of the project, South Dakota is accelerating paying its full share and local water providers have fronted a significant amount of funding to stem the effects of inflation on the project. [Worthington Daily Globe, 2/6/08; Lewis and Clark Regional Water System website, accessed 2/12/08]

If Elected, Day Would Not Request Earmarks for District. “‘I'm going to be opposed to them if I'm elected congressman,’ Day said in an interview, renewing his stance. So far, it makes him the only one of three Republicans running for the 1st Congressional District endorsement to make that promise.” [Rochester Post-Bulletin, 1/21/08]

Davis Denounced Earmarks on Web Site. “There are three simple steps Congress must enact. First, Congress should pass a new federal Taxpayer Bill of Rights, limiting the growth of spending. Second, we need to eliminate the practice of Congressional ‘earmarks’. Third, the President must be given line-item veto authority to cut out wasteful Congressional spending.” [Brian Davis for Congress website, accessed 2/12/08]

Davis Praises Kline for Stance Against Helping District. “Davis praised 2nd District Rep. John Kline, R-Minnesota, for his stance against federal earmarks. Davis said his own background outside politics ensures he’d be fair with taxpayer dollars. ‘We need politicians who don’t have to pay off favors,’ Davis said. Day pledged he won’t attempt to score federal earmarks for the 1st District — similar to Kline’s position.” [Winona Daily News, 2/8/08]

Walz Voted for Earmarks Reform; Majority of House Republicans Did Not. Title IV, Sec. 404 of H.Res. 6 required disclosure in writing of the identity of the sponsor and recipient of an earmark as well as of the purpose of the earmark. Title IV passed by a margin of 280-152. All the opponents of the bill were Republicans. [Vote #9, 1/5/07]