Senator Clinton Opposes Seaway Expansion

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton called on President Bush to abandon a Corps of Engineers study that could lead to what is being called a costly and environmentally harmful expansion of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

In a letter to the President, Senator Clinton urged him to not request funding for the Great Lakes Navigation System Review in his upcoming fiscal year 2005 budget.

"The St Lawrence Seaway is home to a pristine environment, a thriving local community and a burgeoning tourism industry. Protecting the Seaway should be our highest priority and I believe that the Great Lakes Navigation System Review runs counter to this goal," Senator Clinton said. "I call on President Bush not to request funding for this study in his upcoming budget. Instead, we must study how we can balance the environmental and navigational needs of the region in a way that considers the economic health of the Great Lakes area as a whole."

Senator Clinton has raised her concerns for several years about the proposed expansion of the St Lawrence Seaway. Last year, Senator Clinton raised this issue directly with Mr. John Paul Woodley Jr., the Administration's nominee for Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. Last year Senator Clinton also wrote to her colleagues on the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, asking them to terminate funding for the study because she was concerned that the Study was designed to expand the St. Lawrence Seaway corridor. When that attempt was unsuccessful, Senator Clinton again wrote to her colleagues, urging that report language be included in the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2004 specifying that the Great Lakes Navigation System Supplement Study be conducted in a balanced manner and that any such study be limited to the existing configuration of the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Seaway.