Idaho Projects Funded in Omnibus Appropriations Bill

ASHINGTON, DC â?? Idaho Senators Larry Craig, a Senate Appropriations Committeemember, and Mike Crapo , praised passage today of H.J. Res. 2, the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for FY 2003. Support for many Idaho projects was included in the bill which passed the Senate this evening by a vote of 69 to 29. This bill is served as the vehicle for all 11 of the FY 2003 appropriations bills that were left unfinished last year by the then-Democrat-controlled Senate.â??Critically needed support for a variety of important Idaho projects has finally escaped the grasp of last yearâ??s partisan bickering in the U.S. Senate,â??Senator Craig said. â??I am verypleased that funding will go forward for a National Academy of Sciences oversight study of the work the EPA has done on the Coeur d'Alene Basin Superfund site. Additional borrowing power for BPA will go a long way in maintaining and creating new power generation for thePacific Northwest. Support for INEEL will go toward the ongoing clean-up mission and manyother important projects at the site. In addition, important provisions would aid wolf management and restore fair Farm Bill treatment for pulse crops producers.â?? "Creating a budget each year is a difficult process," SenatorCrapo said. "The challenge with this budget has been providing for the needs we now face while preserving the goal of returning the federal government to budgetary soundness. In Idaho, our budget concerns revolve around providing adequate funding for work at INEEL, wildlife concerns,and education to name a few. Although the budget does not have everything we would like it to have, Senator Craig and I have worked to be sure that important programs in Idaho will receive needed funds and that national priorities have been met." Idaho projects supported in the FY 2003 Omnibus Appropriations include, but are not limited to the following: C $850,000 is provided for the National Academy of Sciences, to independently evaluate the Couer d'Alene Basin Superfund site. The Academy will assess the Environmental Protection Agency.