Calls For Corps Reform
Some in Congress feel that reforms are necessary in the way the Corps operates. The Corps has been criticized as being mismanaged and lacking oversight and accountability, especially since Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the Army Corps built levees in New Orleans.
Senator Russ Feingold and Senator John McCain pushed to establish two amendments; one an independent review of Corps projects from planning and design to construction, and a second that would require that Corps projects be ranked in importance based on national priorities. In 2006, they succeeded in adding the peer review of corps projects to the Water resources development bill that was working its way through Congress.
In August 2007, Senator Feingold himself tried to block passage of the bill because he felt the reforms it contained would not do enough to change the way the Corps does business.
After a decade of government and independent reports calling for reforming the corps and pointing out stunning flaws in corps projects and project studies, and after the tragic failures of New Orleans levees during Hurricane Katrina, the American people deserve meaningful reform. How many more flawed projects or wasted dollars will it take before we say enough is enough? —Senator Feingold from the Senate FloorCalls for reform go back decades; the Corps' credibility had been challenged as early as the late 1920s. Herbert Hoover, then Secretary of Commerce, declared the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 as “greatest disaster of peace times in our history”, which covered 26,000 square miles (67,000 km2) in seven states. More than 700,000 people were driven from their homes. More recent attempts at reform have been made in the 106th, 107th, 108th, and 109th Congresses. But as Senator Feingold indicated by quoting the Times-Picayune:
"Unfortunately, not everyone in Congress is interested in changing the way the corps does business. The McCain-Feingold amendments face opposition and a rival set of measures by the main authors of the water resources bill, Sens. James Inhofe and Kit Bond.... Sham reform won't do anything to restore confidence in the corps, and Congress must do better."On 8 November 2007, the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 became law over President Bush' veto of the bill.
Read more about this topic: U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Civil Works Controversies
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