2008 Woodie Awards
Veto overrides step in right direction
View from another campus
The Daily Athenaeum (West Virginia U.)
Issue date: 11/12/07 Section: Viewpoint
The fierce partisanship that has dominated both the House of Representatives and the Senate was rested Thursday, after both the House and the Senate came together to override one of President Bush's five vetoes.
No, it's not anything to do with the State Children's Health Insurance Program budget increase, nor does it have to do with Iraq troops coming home anytime sooner.
But it does carry a punch. Last Friday, Bush vetoed the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, which earmarked $23 billion for water projects, including rebuilding damaged levees from Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana.
Bush released a statement on the White House Web site, whitehouse.gov, explaining his decision.
"This authorization bill makes promises to local communities that the Congress does not have a track record of keeping," he said about the bill.
"The bill's excessive authorization for over 900 projects and programs exacerbates the massive backlog of ongoing Corps construction projects, which will require an additional $38 billion in future appropriations to complete."
Congress, after being met with four previous vetoes against legislation passed to the president to sign into law, finally came together as one entity and gelled for the benefit of the American people - especially for those affected in Hurricane Katrina.
After being passed 361-54 in the House last week, the Senate passed the veto override 79-14, safely over the necessary two-thirds vote.
According to The New York Times, 12 Republicans voted against the measure, and two Democrats - Wis. Sen. Russell D. Feingold and Mo. Sen. Claire McCaskill, did, too.
Speaking about WRDA, Miss. Sen. Trent Lott told The Associated Press it "is one of the few areas where we actually do something constructive," adding the bill contained "good, deserved, justified projects."
Democratic majority leader Nev. Sen. Harry Reid, according to The New York Times, said the veto override "sends an unmistakable message that Democrats both will continue to strengthen our environment and economy and will refuse to allow President Bush to block America's real priorities for partisan reasons."
Which is a good thing.
It seems that Congress has finally found its bipartisan backbone and taken a stance against the president's veto-happy administration.
Though they didn't come together to insure four million further children in the S-CHIP expansion legislation, perhaps they can now find some common ground in the wake of this victory against the president.
In the coming days, Bush will justify his rejection further, asserting that he is against government spending. But, for an administration sending us into a deficit for an unnecessary war, he's hardly credible.
We applaud Congress for working together for the good of Americans for a change and not for the good of their parties.
No, it's not anything to do with the State Children's Health Insurance Program budget increase, nor does it have to do with Iraq troops coming home anytime sooner.
But it does carry a punch. Last Friday, Bush vetoed the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, which earmarked $23 billion for water projects, including rebuilding damaged levees from Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana.
Bush released a statement on the White House Web site, whitehouse.gov, explaining his decision.
"This authorization bill makes promises to local communities that the Congress does not have a track record of keeping," he said about the bill.
"The bill's excessive authorization for over 900 projects and programs exacerbates the massive backlog of ongoing Corps construction projects, which will require an additional $38 billion in future appropriations to complete."
Congress, after being met with four previous vetoes against legislation passed to the president to sign into law, finally came together as one entity and gelled for the benefit of the American people - especially for those affected in Hurricane Katrina.
After being passed 361-54 in the House last week, the Senate passed the veto override 79-14, safely over the necessary two-thirds vote.
According to The New York Times, 12 Republicans voted against the measure, and two Democrats - Wis. Sen. Russell D. Feingold and Mo. Sen. Claire McCaskill, did, too.
Speaking about WRDA, Miss. Sen. Trent Lott told The Associated Press it "is one of the few areas where we actually do something constructive," adding the bill contained "good, deserved, justified projects."
Democratic majority leader Nev. Sen. Harry Reid, according to The New York Times, said the veto override "sends an unmistakable message that Democrats both will continue to strengthen our environment and economy and will refuse to allow President Bush to block America's real priorities for partisan reasons."
Which is a good thing.
It seems that Congress has finally found its bipartisan backbone and taken a stance against the president's veto-happy administration.
Though they didn't come together to insure four million further children in the S-CHIP expansion legislation, perhaps they can now find some common ground in the wake of this victory against the president.
In the coming days, Bush will justify his rejection further, asserting that he is against government spending. But, for an administration sending us into a deficit for an unnecessary war, he's hardly credible.
We applaud Congress for working together for the good of Americans for a change and not for the good of their parties.
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