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INHOFE VOWS TO WORK TO OVERRIDE
 POTENTIAL PRESIDENTIAL VETO OF WRDA BILL
 

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, issued the following statement in response to the President’s threat to veto the WRDA conference report.

 

“I am disappointed that the President intends to veto this critically important bill,” Senator Inhofe said. “This bill, while not perfect, has received overwhelming bi-partisan support in Congress and goes a long way towards addressing our nation's water resource needs. The fact is that WRDA, a bill that should be enacted every two years, is now five years overdue, accounting for much of the size of the bill.
 
“As the most fiscally conservative member of the United States Senate, as ranked by the American Conservative Union, I have long argued that the two most important functions of the federal government are to provide for the national defense and to develop and improve public infrastructure.  That means I am not shy about voting for increased authorization and spending on national defense needs or public infrastructure.  At the same time, we must spend limited taxpayer dollars wisely. The way to ensure wise use of taxpayer dollars is to follow the full authorization-appropriations process.  The issue here is not about the WRDA bill, it’s about the authorization process. Authorization is the only way to keep discipline over the annual appropriations process. In enacting a WRDA bill we will take the first step of authorization.
 
“Therefore, if the President does indeed veto this bill, I am committed to working to override the President’s veto.”

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