Eliminating Wasteful, Job-Killing Stimulus Project

In their ongoing efforts to reign in wasteful spending, Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Mica and Committee Republicans invited Mr. Brian Rainville of Vermont to testify about how the federal government planned to take land from his family’s farm and use millions in stimulus funds to rebuild a small, underused border crossing at the Canadian border. While the stimulus was touted by the Administration as a job creator, Mr. Rainville testified that the loss of the land would threaten the ability of his family to maintain the farm and put them out of business.

In his testimony, Mr. Rainville said, “My family has been at Morses Line for three generations, stewards of a working landscape in good years and bad, but never imagined that an agency of the federal government would attempt to smother our American dream.”

During the Congressional hearing, Committee Republicans questioned Administration officials about its justification for using stimulus funds to condemn family farmland in order to expand a border crossing that averages 2.5 cars per hour.

Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management Subcommittee Ranking Member Diaz-Balart asked witnesses if the federal government should be wasting millions of dollars in stimulus funds to build a new eight-lane border facility at a crossing that sees 40 cars per day.

Following the hearing, Ranking Member Mica joined the Committee Chairman in sending a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano requesting that DHS reverse their decision to expand the border facility and determine how to better use stimulus funds in a manner that creates jobs rather than kills them.

The Department has since announced it plans to close the small border crossing and route traffic through other nearby crossings.