Today is the day to call in to the Senate for Corps reform. If you
haven't already, PLEASE DO THESE TWO THINGS:

1) Call your Senator

2) Send this message to your own lists of members and supporters.

CALL YOUR SENATOR to demand that the next Water Resources Development
Act fix the problems with our nation's water resource program that have
been made apparent in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. (Capitol
Switchboard = 202-224-3121).

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is under intense pressure to bring
the Water Resource Development Act to the floor for debate and a vote.
Your Senators will be asked to stand up for a plan that will help fix
the problems that led to death and destruction in New Orleans. Senators
Russ Feingold and John McCain - sponsors of the Water Resource Planning
and Modernization Act of 2006  - have negotiated to have some parts of
their bill included in the version that comes to the floor. HOWEVER, the
co-sponsors of the WRDA bill (Senators Bond and Inhofe) refused to
accept some of the most critical elements of the reform agenda. That's
where you come in!

CALL YOUR U.S. SENATOR TO TELL THEM TO REQUIRE THE CORPS TO BE
MODERNIZED, REFORMED AND HELD ACCOUNTABLE. Tell them to support
amendments by Feingold and McCain that will:

* Require the Corps to submit costly or controversial projects to be
reviewed by an independent panel of experts in science, transportation.

* Require an independent panel to identify the top priority flood
control, navigation and restoration projects. The list of priority
projects would be given to Congress to guide funding decisions. 

Be sure to tell them to support the Feingold McCain amendments. The
WRDA bill supporters will be offering their own, bogus version of
independent review and prioritization amendments.

With your support, and help from your members, allies and supporters,
we can send a loud and clear message to the Senate that they must
support amendments to the Water Resources Development Act that will help
fix the fundamental problems at the Corps. 

Here's how you can help:

1) Call your Senator on June 19. Ask to speak to the Legislative
Assistant who handles environmental issues. If you don't know your
Senator's phone number, call the Capitol Switchboard. (202-224-3121).

2) Tell them to support amendments to the Water Resources Development
Act to be offered by Senators Feingold and McCain. Tell them the reform
provisions in S. 728 - including NEW language negotiated last month -
are a good start but fall short. 

3) Tell them that true independent review is needed to check the Corps'
work. And tell them that Congress must stop funding projects that make
little economic sense or trash our environment. Tell them to fund only
those projects that are truly the highest priority.

4) Ask the staff person how their boss intends to vote and then relay
the information to us.

5) Pass this message on to your members, your Board of Directors and
any list serves you may be on.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:
On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina plowed through southern Louisiana.
More than 1500 people died and a great American city was destroyed.
Today, we know that the damage was made worse by the lack of a national
water resource policy and shoddy engineering. Current policies put ports
and economic development ahead of people and natural ecosystems that can
buffer storm damage. Numerous reports have concluded that the Corps
failed in New Orleans. Even the Chief of Engineers admitted recently
that "we('ve) had a catastrophic failure."

Thank you. With your support, we can ensure that we learn from our
mistakes and fix some of the problems revealed by Hurricane Katrina.




-- 
  ><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º>
Deborah Neustadt
Des Moines, IA
Sierra Club
Water Committee, Chair
Wildlife and Endangered Species Committee, Member
Iowa Chapter, Executive Committee Member, Political Chair

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