-Caveat Lector-
THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY
Clinton expands river grab
Increases federal rivers from 10 to 20
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By Sarah Foster
� 1998 WorldNetDaily.com
President Clinton -- with another stroke of his pen -- rewrote his own game
plan for federalizing American rivers. By an executive order signed yesterday,
the president increased the number of potential "heritage river" designees
from 10 to 20. Then at a press conference, Vice President Al Gore announced
the names of 14 rivers the president had selected -- four more than expected.
Clinton can now add up to six more at whim.
As originally laid out in earlier executive orders, the American Heritage
Rivers Initiative called for a special blue-ribbon advisory committee of
presidential appointees to select 20 rivers -- from a list of over 120 --
which it deemed especially in need of federal grants and services. From these
the president was to choose 10.
The committee met in Washington in May to finalize its list of
recommendations. Unable to decide on 20, they met again for a six-hour session
in June -- this time, in St. Louis. At the second meeting they chose 10 rivers
and sent the names to the president. These were:
Connecticut River (Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts) Detroit
River (Michigan) Hanalei River (Hawaii) Hudson River (New York) New River
(North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia) Upper Mississippi (Iowa, Illinois,
Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin) Rio Grande (Texas) Potomac River (District of
Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia) St. Johns River
(Louisiana, Tennessee) Willamette River (Oregon)
To this group the president took it upon himself to add the
Blackstone/Woonasquatucket Rivers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island (as
requested by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-MA), the Cuyahoga River in Ohio, the Lower
Mississippi River through Tennessee and Louisiana; and the
Susquehanna/Lackawanna Rivers in Pennsylvania.
Although the Heritage Rivers Initiative had been lobbied strongly by some
local governments, eager for the largesse that's promised, many local
governments are adamantly against it. So, too, are grass-roots organizations
that foresee the dangers of bringing a strong federal presence into their
communities -- which the initiative would necessitate.
Opposition reached such a crescendo last year that Congress had to respond, as
did the President's Council on Environmental Quality -- the agency charged
with supervising and managing the river selection process. Council chairwoman
Katie McGinty promised Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-ID, that members of Congress
would have "absolute authority" over whether or not a community or state
participates in the program -- and that they could take out any segment of a
nominated river that runs through their districts.
"It's a veto authority that any member of Congress would retain throughout the
existence of the program," McGinty told the House Committee on Resources last
September.
It didn't work that way.
For example, Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-TX, at the urging of county governments up
and down the Rio Grande, opted out all sections where there was formal
opposition -- which was most of the river. He was backed in this action by
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX. Nonetheless, the Rio Grande was recommended
by the advisory committee.
So, too, was the Upper Mississippi, despite opting out by congressmen on both
the Illinois and Missouri sides. Support for the designation came largely from
the mayors of cities who, according to sources, were heavily lobbied by
members of the Council on Environmental Quality.
The St. Johns River in Florida was taken out by Republican representatives
Cliff Stearns and David Weldon. Katie McGinty herself announced that the St.
Johns was "eliminated from consideration." But the mayor of Fort Lauderdale
attended the meeting in St. Louis where he successfully pressured the
committee for the river's inclusion.
The Lower Mississippi didn't make the final cut as far as the advisory
committee was concerned. According to Karen Hobbs, of the Council on
Environmental Quality, most of the group wanted to include it, but "there was
a small part that thought it was overreaching and trying to do to much on such
a long river." The others eventually agreed.
The president, despite the committee's rejection of the designation, went
ahead anyway with designating the Lower Mississippi.
The additional designations -- particularly when they fly in the face of his
own committee -- recall an earlier statement by Chad Hyslop, press secretary
for Helen Chenoweth. "Clinton's writing the rules as he goes along," he said.
"If the committee doesn't give him the recommendations he wants he'll appoint
others. Eventually, he'll get the ones he wants."
The list will be formally announced this Thursday, when both Gore and Clinton
travel to the New River in North Carolina for a photo op.
NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107,
this material is distributed without profit to those who
have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research and educational purposes. For
more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
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