{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://jasonsmith.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/congressman-jason-smith-highlights-the-need-to-finish-the-floodway", "Congressman Jason Smith Highlights the Need to Finish the Floodway Project", "2014-12-19", "2014", "2014-12", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Jason Smith", "S001195", "jasonsmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Yesterday, Congressman Jason Smith sent a letter to President Obama condemning new opposition to the St. John\u2019s Bayou and New Madrid Floodway Project, and calling for the project\u2019s completion. Congressman Smith wrote to answer letters sent to President Obama Tuesday by environmental groups and \u201clocal leaders\u201d calling for the president and the EPA to exercise an obscure \u201cClean Water Act Veto\u201d to kill the project.\n\u201cIf President Obama vetoes the St. John\u2019s/New Madrid Floodway project it will erase the efforts of generations of Southeast Missourians who have worked to complete this project since Congress authorized it in 1954. This project is vital to protect the lives and property of the people who live and work in my district.\u00a0 It is obvious that people in Illinois have been lied to about this project by outsiders who aren\u2019t from the region and who would like to see all of the flood plain on both sides of the river revert back to bird and fish habitat.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\nThe letter to President Obama said in part:\n\u201cI recently reviewed several letters that were written to you [Tuesday] by \u201clocal leaders\u201d who \u201coppose the New Madrid Levee.\u201d The vast majority of these \u201clocal leaders\u201d do not live in the affected area, or are not from Missouri. The \u201clocal leaders\u201d that are from Missouri all appear to be from the Kansas City Area, and are certainly not from the Southeast Missouri Bootheel.\u201d\nIt went on to say:\n\u201cI ask that you not interfere by derailing this project that has finally begun to show some momentum. Concerns from individuals in Southern Illinois who believe that somehow this project will endanger them with flooding are unfounded and not based in science. The Corps of Engineers has repeatedly determined that this project creates no additional risk of flooding to upstream or downstream communities.\u201d\nThe full text of Congressman Smith\u2019s letter to the president can be found here.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://jasonsmith.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/congressman-jason-smith-highlights-the-need-to-finish-the-floodway"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6693221405148506, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}