THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 15, 1995 TAG: 9502150503
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
A Clinton administration plan to retool the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, potentially ending its hurricane protection efforts in places like Virginia Beach and North Carolina's Outer Banks, hit rough water Tuesday in a Senate subcommittee.
Republican lawmakers, including some who have criticized the use of Pentagon appropriations for non-defense programs, served notice that they will cast a critical eye on efforts to trim the military's involvement in dam-building and beach replenishment.
Democrats were no more supportive of the administration. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., promised he will vote ``to cut the corps to the core'' if the administration carries through with plans to end the Army's involvement in all water projects in his state.
But John H. Zirschky, an acting assistant secretary of the Army, who explained the plan to the subcommittee, asserted, ``The need to reduce the (budget) deficit requires a re-look at what's a local project and what's a national project.''
Questioned by Virginia Sen. John W. Warner - chairman of the Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee - Zirschky acknowledged that the administration proposal would end federal involvement in efforts to protect the Virginia Beach Oceanfront and replenish sand at Sandbridge. by CNB