Two Florida congressmen urged their colleagues to save the state’s waterways during a Thursday panel on Capitol Hill. Republican Trey Radel and Democrat Patrick Murphy discussed how to address the damaging discharges from Lake Okeechobee to Florida waterways. Radel says he, like Governor Rick Scott, would like to see President Barack Obama visit the state to survey the problem.
“We talked about how we’d love to the President come to down sometime. We should spearhead a bipartisan letter to the White House to ask for the President to come down," Radel said to applause.
"And, let him tangibly, visibly see—it’s more than just pictures or talking with people. It’s actually physically seeing it.”
Other suggestions included making sure there’s support for federal projects to help the state’s ecosystems and bettering water storage programs. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for releasing water from Lake Okeechobee to reduce pressure on the Herbert Hoover Dike—parts of which date back to the 1930s.
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