U.S. Rep. Clyburn (Gerrymandered Dem, SC) secures $25 million (in pork)

The Morning News (Florence, SC) ^ | Nov 26, 2004 | Not listed

[SC Swamp Fox]

U.S. Rep. Clyburn secures $25 million for area infrastructure improvements

The office of U.S. Rep. James E. Clyburn, D-SC, announced in a press release this week that Clyburn has secured more than $25 million for infrastructure and energy projects in the Sixth District.

“These projects range from providing for the basic needs of the Sixth Congressional District residents to improving economic engines for our state and enhancing cutting-age scientific education and research at our colleges and universities,” Clyburn stated in the release.

Clyburn received a $3 million appropriation for the Lake Marion Regional Water Agency. The $3 million is in addition to the $33 million in local, state and federal funding already allocated to the project.

Groundbreaking for the water agency is scheduled to take place in 2005 in Santee. The facility is planned to provide water and sewer to counties along the Interstate 95 corridor.

Clyburn’s office also announced that he secured $14 million for the Charleston Harbor; $3.4 million for the Georgetown Harbor and $3.3 million for operations and maintenance of the Cooper River. The funding is appropriated through the Army Corps of Engineers.

According to the release, Clyburn secured $1.5 million for the Savannah River Technology Center’s Southeast Universities Reactor Project. The project rejuvenates nuclear education in the United States by creating the first new university nuclear programs in twenty years. The project is a partnership between Westinghouse Savannah River Site, the University of South Carolina, and South Carolina State University.

The new nuclear program will conduct research using a reactor at the Savannah River Site.

In addition to the projects funded in other parts of the Sixth District, Clyburn’s office noted that the Williamsburg County Library would receive $50,000 for materials.

[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

The 6th district snakes it's way through the state in such a way that it is just slightly majority black. This gives the democrats 2 seats in congress from SC where they would normally have only one if the districts were drawn for compactness or using logical geographic boundaries.

I read somewhere that when John Spratt retires, his seat would likely go Republican. I suspect if Clyburn's seat was in fact a fairly drawn and compact one, than perhaps the Republicans would hold all of SC's House seats.

[SC Swamp Fox]

Does his district sort of follow the Interstate ?

I just found this map, it's actually more compact now then it was in 2000, but the Justice department forced the legislature to keep it safe for Clyburn.

[Drammach]

Looks like over 100 miles of the I-95 corridor, practically across the entire state..
That's a vital piece of the state's economy, any way you look at it.. a main corridor of north-south traffic up and down the eastern seaboard..

I'm surprised he hasn't gotten federal funding for Law Enforcement..
Looks like an excellent argument for State Highway Patrol funding as applied to Homeland Defence.. A veritable terrorist hotbed.. Suitcase Atomic Bombs being secretly smuggled into the nation's capitol or worse..
A congressional grant would be suitable, yes...
I'll accept nothing less than $50 mil..
It's for the children..

[neb52]

Well I live in Arlington, which is the big city on the East side of the county. So I originally shrugged my shoulders at the plans of damning up the Trinity to create a downtown lake. But now that they have Federal funding, that now involves my taxes as well(not to mention any County wide taxes). But I don't get a say or vote in this deal since it's another City.

The Federal money is to help pay for the $110 Million price tag that the Corps of Engineers will require to damn the river up in the middle of the downtown and then reroute the river around the North and South sides of the newly defined Downtown Area. The total price tag is supposedly $380 million over something like seven to eight years. But in Texas speak that means $600 Million with several Jamaican Vacations for a few politicians and business owners.

As to the blighted area you are referring to. Do you mean the part North of the Trinity River/current Downtown Area, that has that old run down industrial buildings. That is the part the City hopes to revitalize. They have already tried to do so with the northern most part. But the City ended up having to buy up several projects to just to finish the construction. No investor or financial institution wanted to invest in these projects. The area is a little to big for just a city park, but what I read is they do plan on putting several green spaces through out the area. I hope some other Freepers from DFW will chime in. They may know more then I.

[neb52]

Here is a picture and article of what is to be done.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/10253085.htm

[Drammach]

No, the area I was referring to was just south of downtown, and south of the through-city interstate.
Not any "big" industrial buildings that I saw, mostly 1 story street-front buildings..
But there were broken store front windows, the buildings were abandoned, vagrants everywhere, and along with grocery carts, there were mattresses on the sidewalk, people sleeping on them in the middle of the afternoon..
Dirty, dusty, hot, dry, and less than a mile south of downtown.. in fact, it was probably less than 20 minutes walking time to the downtown area.. right under the interstate overpass..
Driving through that area was downright discouraging..

Sounds like the new "river bypass" would run right through that area, flooding it out..
The vagrants would have to move further south, and would have to swim or ford the new river to get downtown then... ( not a bad idea.. LOL )
Almost sounds like they plan on building a "moat" around the city..

( Possible un-intended consequence.. vagrants walking on highway overpasses / bridges to get downtown.. )

[doosee]

I would have to look up the details but what Clyburn really wanted the US to fund is a multibillion dollar set of bridges across swamp and wetlands in Williamsburg county out to the coast. I have seen estimates on this from 3 billion to 10 billion. What he got to announce are the crumbs of the pork he really would like to have.

[Moose4]

So is ol' Jim still trying to get his $60 million for the Bridge To Nowhere between Lone Star and Rimini? (Background: Congressman Clyburn is trying to get massive federal funding for a nine-mile bridge across the Congaree Swamp National Monument to connect two tiny towns in his district. There's virtually no economic justification for the bridge, he just wants the pork. He's gotten the enviroweenies up in arms over putting the bridge across an "environmentally sensitive wetland.")

}:-)4

[Salo]

Not only couldn't be tampered with: shouldn't be tampered with. This focuses all of the democrat influence in one district, leaving all of the rest for Republicans. Clyburn can safely be ignored as he is outnumbered and irrelevant.

[doosee]

Audobon Society estimates the bridge would be about $100 million so my earlier post was way high, but 100 million is still a lot of tax dollars.

[SC Swamp Fox]

They have renamed it...good move. It's still an awful idea.

Briggs-DeLaine-Pearson Connector