Congressional Conference Committee moves Katrina Bill with CSX $$

Trains Magazine General Discussion
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Congress reps OK hurricane measure, includes money for CSX
(The following article by Ana Radelat was posted on the Jackson Clarion-Ledger website on May 24.)

WASHINGTON – Congressional negotiators on the latest hurricane-spending bill said Tuesday they’ve agreed to go along with the White House on how big it should be.

That means a $109 billion Senate-approved bill that would move the CSX railroad line from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and help Northrop Grumman in Pascagoula pay for uninsured losses has been scaled back to $94.5 billion.

President Bush had vowed to veto the bill, which also would pay for the cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, if it costs more than that.

“I’m optimistic that we’ll pass something that the president will approve,” said Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran, chairman of the Appropriations Committee.

To meet the $94.5 billion cap and still have money for some Senate priorities, negotiators are considering shifting some of the bill’s $71 billion in war costs to hurricane-related purposes.

“There’s no portion of the bill that’s more important than any other,” Cochran, a Republican, said.

Even so, some proposals in the Senate’s ambitious bill will have to be sacrificed, or at least whittled down, to meet the limits set by the White House and win approval from House negotiators. The House approved a stripped-down emergency spending bill in March.

Among the most vulnerable items are $4 billion that would aid farmers in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and across the country and $1.2 billion to aid Gulf Coast fishermen and shrimpers and repair marinas destroyed by the hurricanes.

“It’s hard to get down to the president’s numbers with that money in the bill,” said William Hoagland, budget aid to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

Also in jeopardy is authorization for the Navy to spend up to $200 million to help Northrop Grumman’s operations in Pasc

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If I read thiscorrectly, it sounds like the conferees have agreed on the $94.5 billion cap on the bill requested by The White House, but haven’t decided what will be taken out of the $109 billion approved by the Senate.

LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!!

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Jay -

I think you are right. Notice that the Mississippi delegation is still fighting for the $700MIllion. They may squeeze some of it into other parts of the bill such as the HUD Block Grants but they are determined to put it in somewhere. Also, look for the Administration to get less war funding than it wants in the bill. That is one way the Senate can hold the W’s feet to the fire and still get what they want given that he has set the ceiling on the bill. I think there may indeed be some sort of backroom deal that gets much of this through. The farmers and fishermen will probably lose out as they seem to be backed by Democrats, and once they are out the gap narrows to just over $9 Billion. Hey, what’s a mere $9B between friends, right!!! I’ll bet a lot of that can come from the defense/war portion of the bill that will just migrate to the next bill…

LC

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From the Jackson, MS Clarion Ledger Op-Ed Page May 25, 2006

Katrina: Mississippi’s needs important, too

President Bush has Congress in a tight spot with the vow to veto an emergency spending bill that would help Katrina victims in Mississippi, but the bill appears in capable hands with Sen. Thad Cochran.

Cochran, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, says he is “optimistic that we’ll pass something that the president will approve,” even with the $94.5 billion cap Bush has imposed that could hurt Mississippi.

At risk in the bill Bush wants to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan are $4 billion to aid farmers and $1.2 billion to help Gulf Coast fishermen hurt by Katrina, as well as $200 million to help Northrop Grumman recover and $700 million to relocate the CSX rail line away from the coastline.

The latter two items are vital to Mississippi Gulf Coast rebuilding.

A solution may be to allow some of the funds for Mississippi to be delivered via Community Development Block Grants, the same as when funds were found to help 29,000 Coast homeowners who lacked insurance when Katrina struck.

President Bush has opposed spending for the shipbuilder, the largest manufacturing employer in Mississippi, and for the rail line relocation, which would help the Coast rebuild with better quality of life. He also has opposed federal funds for restoration of historic buildings, such as Confederate President Jefferson Davis’ home, Beauvoir.

The president wants the money spent on rebuilding Iraq and for military operations.

While Mississippians are some of the most loyal when it comes to the military, emergency spending on America for Americans is important, too.

As Cochran notes: “There’s no portion of the bill that’s more important than any other.” The president should see that helping our farmers, our fishing industry and manufacturing plants that were destroyed are as important as