U.S. Senator Thad Cochran  recently sought insight into how the Army Corps of Engineers will set priorities for maintaining Mississippi river shipping lanes and harbors in light of reduced federal funding.
Cochran serves on the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee that conducted a hearing on Wednesday on the FY2012 budget requests for the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation.
Cochran cited the President’s budget request for the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project (MR&T) that recommends $210 million in FY2012, which is $100 million below the FY2010 discretionary budget authority for this Corps of Engineers mission.

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