Bush Loses Water Fight in 1st Veto Override

By David M. Herszenhorn New York Times News Service

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday dealt President Bush the first veto override of his presidency, with a resounding bipartisan vote to adopt a $23.2 billion water resources bill that authorizes popular projects across the country.

The 79-14 vote sent a clear signal that the Democrats in control of Congress planned to test the power of the White House on other fronts, and it gave Republicans a chance to show distance from an unpopular president heading into a tough election year.

Utah’s two Republican senators, Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, voted for the override.

“We have said today, as a Congress to this president, you can’t just keep rolling over us like this,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D- Calif., who led the charge on the water bill as chairwoman of the Environment and Public Works Committee.

“You can’t make everything a fight because we’ll see it through,” Boxer added. “And that’s a big deal. It isn’t easy for members of the other side to stand up to a president in their own party. I know. I know what that’s like. It’s hard.”

If the Democrats have their way, Republicans will likely find themselves in that difficult position repeatedly in the next few weeks as Congress looks to go toe to toe with the administration on a series of budget bills, most of which Bush has threatened to veto.

The water bill adopted by the Senate authorizes popular projects in states across the country, including hurricane recovery efforts in Louisiana, environmental restoration in the Florida Everglades and flood control in California. But the bill does not actually appropriate money for the projects, which must be done in spending bills.

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