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Pallone Assails Bush Administration for Slashing Beach Replenishment Funds in Budget

March 8, 2005

Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today admonished the Bush administration for again slashing funding for beach replenishment and shore protection programs, calling the cuts "an insult to shore communities."

Bush's budget request for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 contains only $46 million for shore protection, less than half of the $102 million that Congress provided last year. Moreover, the budget request once again attempts to put all the burden of shouldering the costs for periodic renourishment projects on the backs of state and local governments.

"The Bush administration has turned its back on shore communities, not just in New Jersey but around the country," Pallone said. "Our beaches benefit visitors from all around the mid-Atlantic region, and it is unfair to expect New Jersey taxpayers to pay for the entire cost of renourishment. Moreover, giving up on our beaches means giving up on a tremendous economic engine for our region, one that pumps money back into the federal coffers."

Last year, Pallone, as co-chair of the Congressional Coastal Caucus, was instrumental in securing legislative language that prevented the Bush administration from proceeding with a policy change that would have ended federal involvement in periodic renourishment. The president's FY06 budget indicates that the same fight will occur again this year.

"My colleagues on the House Appropriations Committee seem to have a much better understanding of the value of protecting coastal resources than the Administration does," Pallone said. "I will be working closely with them to prevent further anti-beach policy changes and to ensure that our shore protection programs get the funding they need."

Pallone said that once again this year, the bipartisan Coastal Caucus plans to fight to ensure all beach replenishment projects are fully funded when the appropriations process begins later this month.