The Tennessee Wildlife Federation and the chairman of the state’s Carp Advisory Commission are applauding a significant funding step forward in the battle against invasive Asian carp despite President Donald Trump’s call for changes and threats to shoot it down.
This year’s version of the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 passed this week by Congress includes $25 million dedicated to projects to manage and prevent the spread of Asian carp in the Tennessee and Cumberland river basins.
Advisory commission chairman Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, and Wildlife Federation CEO Michael Butler were delighted with the funding even though President Trump on Tuesday called the $25 million in spending “wasteful,” and criticizing it as part of COVID-19 relief legislation.
The president has threatened not to sign the massive $900 billion stimulus package Congress passed alongside a $1.3 trillion spending bill covering most regular federal government operations and programs. He has also demanded changes and called on legislators to cut spending on items such as the carp program in order to increase direct payments for most Americans from $600 to $2,000 for individuals.