Fleming Amendment Goes After Wasteful Spending in Sandy Bill

Statement

Congressman John Fleming, M.D. (LA-4) introduced four amendments on Monday to cut wasteful spending from the Sandy legislation that will be on the House floor today. All of the amendments were for spending under his jurisdiction, as chairman of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs. Rep. Fleming released the following statement after the House Rules Committee made one of the amendments in order for today's debate:

"The Democrat philosophy of Rahm Emanuel is alive and well: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.' Sadly, every crisis has real victims, like the people in the Northeast who were devastated by Sandy. But their suffering should not be used by tax-and-spend Washington liberals and Obama Administration bureaucrats to pile billions of dollars in pork on an emergency bill that should be focused on assisting victims.

"My amendment will stop the Fish and Wildlife Service from spending $9.8 million to rebuild a seawall and a building on an uninhabited island that is used for conservation classes by university students from a school in Connecticut. The general public has no access to this island or benefit from it, without the university's permission. Most of the damage actually resulted from Hurricane Irene in August 2011, but now the Fish and Wildlife Service says this project constitutes emergency spending that will add to our national debt. If we can't cut $10 million in spending for what is essentially a private island, what can we cut?"

Dr. John Fleming is Chairman of the Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs and is a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He is a physician and small business owner and represents the 4th Congressional District of Louisiana.

Source