House Showers $21 Billion on Energy, Water Plans

The House voted overwhelmingly Monday to approve $21.1 billion for energy and water programs next year, including nearly $700 million more for waterway projects than President Clinton wants but less than he sought for research on solar and other forms of renewable energy.

The House also approved an $8.2-billion bill for military construction for 1999, which, like the energy and water legislation, would shower vast amounts of money on lawmakers’ home districts.

The House vote on the energy and water bill was 405-4, setting up negotiations with the Senate, which approved its own version last week.

The military construction bill was approved, 396-10. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its own measure June 11.

The House energy and water bill would provide nearly $1.5 billion for construction of more than 200 projects that would be built by the Army Corps of Engineers for flood control, beach restoration and navigation. Clinton wanted to limit those projects to $784 million, but they are highly prized by lawmakers. A report accompanying the bill called the president’s proposal “breathtaking in its recklessness.”

The bill would provide nearly $2 billion to plan future water projects and to keep hundreds of existing waterways navigable.

The legislation would provide $351 million to study renewable energy, $86 million less than Clinton wants. Research on solar, wind, geothermal and other forms of renewable energy are part of administration plans for combating global warming, caused by carbon dioxide buildup in the atmosphere.

The measure would also reduce Clinton’s $4.5-billion request for maintaining the nation’s nuclear weapon arsenal by $358 million. And it would trim $230 million from the $517 million he wants to clean up nuclear waste from weapon research.

The military construction bill provides money for the armed services to build barracks, family housing, gyms, hospitals, roads and child-care centers, as well as for environmental cleanups, at bases throughout the United States and the world. It would allow for $1 billion less spending than was approved for this year but $450 million more than Clinton requested.

The measure has funds for 43 states plus the District of Columbia, excluding only Delaware, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.