AWO
(continued from page 25)
ment and deepening of ports, flood
control, shoreline protection and
water supply projects. On its long
voyage to the House floor, the bill
passed the full House Public Works
Committee by a vote of 49-0. Once
on the floor, it was approved by an
overwhelming vote of 259 in favor,
and 33 against. There appeared to
be a consensus in the national in-
terest that something needed to be
done to rebuild the crumbling in-
frastructure of the nation. There
appeared to be a consensus among
our elected representatives that a
vital need would be fulfilled.
Yet, the morning after the bill's
passage, more than one newspaper
carried stories which freely char-
acterized the House as having once
again dipped into the "pork bar-
rel" in its legislative deliberations.
On the news pages, the term "pork
barrel" was used interchangeably,
and wrongly, as a common syn-
onym for "water project."
In George Orwell's now-famous
essay "Politics and the English
Language," he suggests a few rea-
sons why tired, worn out political
phrases should be dropped from
usage. First of all, phrases such as
"pork barrel" pick up such diverse
meanings over the years that their
usage becomes inaccurate, and
therefore misleading. More impor-
tantly, such cliches quickly be-
come a writer's easy substitute for
careful thought and analysis. When
a writer must choose between con-
structing a carefully crafted para-
graph, or getting by with a catch-
all phrase, the pressure of dead-
lines and expedience often result
in the latter.
So, flood control, water supply,
irrigation systems, hydroelectric
power, fish and wildlife enhance-
ment, land reclamation and water-
based recreation become "pork,"
and useful national policy becomes
something to be flippantly deni-
grated. The use of such a reference
had a place, perhaps, in the politi-
cal columns of H.L. Mencken, or
the musings of Mark Twain, or in
a political cartoon depicting ro-
tund politicians dispensing special
favors. It has no place, however,
on the news pages.
If historic and legitimate con-
cern for maintenance and im-
provement of the nation's infras-
tructure—which includes waterway
systems—is to be maligned and
lumped into a dead cliche, under
the guise of serious journalism,
then every President and Con-
gress who ever served would have
to be counted among the conspira-
tors in the national interest. The
development of water resources
produces enormous economic and
social benefits that extend far be-
yond the local community.
There are, certainly, many de-
batable points regarding water re-
sources legislation. For years, the
center of controversy over federal
water projects has been the ques-
tion of who will pay what portion
of the cost of such projects. This
debate is valuable, essential, in
the national interest, and is the
process by which our federal leg-
islators decide issues of national
policy.
I suggest, however, that the
term "pork barrel" used in a news
story benefits no one, that it has
long outlived its usefulness, that it
is deceptive, ambiguous, and that
like the phrases "know-nothing
party," "Tammany Hall," "Smoke-
filled Room," and anything with
the suffix" .... gate," should be
relegated to the dustbin, where
they belong.
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