In this
issue: Don
Mann takes helm of the PNWA Board WRDA bill sent to President Bush Congress has sent the 2007 Water
Resources Development Act (WRDA) to the White House for consideration.� The bill (H.R.1495) enjoys strong
Congressional support.� After passing
their own versions of the bill, the House and Senate passed the compromise
conference report by wide margins.� The
Northwest Congressional delegation unanimously supported this legislation,
and has been critical in securing provisions of interest to PNWA members. ����������������� However, it is likely the
President will veto the bill.� The
White House began sending these signals in July, and a draft document that
would accompany his veto was quoted in news stories several weeks ago. The
President�s concerns appear to focus on the size of the bill.� However, it should be noted that this bill
is five years overdue.� It is meant to
be biennial legislation, and the last WRDA bill was enacted in 2000.� Additionally, this is an authorization
bill, and does not actually spend any taxpayer dollars.� Instead, it authorizes projects that must
then compete for funding in the annual appropriations process. The President now has three
choices with regard to this bill.� The
first would be to sign it into law.�
The second would be to do nothing for ten days, at which point the
bill would automatically become law.�
The third option is to veto the bill.�
If the President chooses to veto, the bill will head back to
Congress.� A two-thirds super-majority
would be required in both the House and Senate to override the veto.� The largest obstacle in this scenario will
be time, as both chambers have many pressing items to resolve before the end
of the year.� The schedule is most
limited in the Senate, which has not made much headway in passing the annual
appropriations bills that fund the government.� It will be a challenge for WRDA bill managers
to jockey for position on the Senate calendar to have this legislation
considered a final time this fall. PNWA will send letters of support
to the House and Senate if the President vetoes the bill.� PNWA is grateful for the ongoing support of
the Northwest Congressional delegation, and we look forward to celebrating
the eventual completion of this bill.�
We are especially pleased to report that Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR)
and Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) joined with twenty other Republican Senators
on October 3rd to send a message of support for WRDA to President
Bush.� For more information about WRDA,
including provisions that are important to PNWA members and a copy of the
Senate Republicans� letter, please visit www.pnwa.net and click on �Water Resources Development Act�. PNWA staff contact: Kristin Meira Don Mann takes helm of the
PNWA Board Don Mann, General Manager of
the Port of Newport, OR, was elected President of the PNWA Board of Directors
at the PNWA Annual Meeting on October 11th. �Don was first elected to the Board in 1989
and served as Senior Vice President for the last two years. �Joining him in leadership are Senior Vice
President Rick Finn, Federal Government Relations Manager at the Port of
Portland, OR, and Treasurer ������������������������������������������������ PNWA Executive Committee: President Don Mann, Port of Newport Rick Finn, Treasurer ID Vice President Todd Maddock, OR Vice President Kim Puzey, WA Vice President Henry Yates, At Large: Paul Amos, Stephanie Bowman, Arvid Lyons, Lewis-Clark Terminal Association Jim Toomey, Immediate Past President Larry Paulson, Secretary Board of Directors: Dan Boone, John Cranor,
Northwest Grain Growers Michael Gaul, Oregon International
Port of Coos Bay Capt. Gary Lewin, Columbia River Bar
Pilots Michael McElwee,
Port of Gerry Meyer, Gary Neal, Port of Morrow Gene Wagner, PNWA also honored outgoing
President Larry Paulson, Executive Director of the Port Vancouver, USA, at a
reception the evening of October 10th. Alicia Lowe, attorney at Schwabe, Williamson and Wyatt, Cager
Clabaugh, ILWU Local 4 President, Arch Miller, Larry
was presented with a Jeffrey Hull print inscribed, �In recognition of strong
leadership and lasting contribution to navigation, economic development and
the environment of the PNWA would like to thank all
participants of the 2008 PNWA Annual Meeting for helping to make it an
extremely successful event! �Over 110
PNWA members, sponsors, speakers and friends attended this year�s meeting,
and we would like to thank everyone for their continued participation and
support. �We were able to feature a
broad range of speakers and topics, and we sincerely hope that we were able
to have something of interest for all who attended.� For your convenience, we have posted each
of the innovative and informative speaker presentations on our website, www.pnwa.net.
Pacific Northwest Waterways Association������������������������������� www.pnwa.net |
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