Chenoweth Loses Argument On Rivers Bill President’S Program Advancing For Rivers Of Historic Value

Idaho Rep. Helen Chenoweth has lost another round in her fight to keep President Clinton from declaring some of the nation’s waterways American Heritage Rivers.

A three-judge U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled recently that Chenoweth and three other Republican representatives don’t have a legal right to sue the president to block his 1997 executive order setting up the program.

Chenoweth said in a press release that she would appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The American Heritage Rivers Initiative is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Chenoweth said.

The four members of Congress oppose the program set up by Clinton, which concentrates a wide range of federal programs on rivers that have historic significance.

Clinton said the federal agencies would help local efforts if communities requested aid. Chenoweth and the other three representatives contended it was a power grab by the federal government “to usurp local decision makers and to concentrate more power in Washington, D.C.”

Chenoweth, Reps. Don Young of Alaska, Bob Schaffer of Colorado and Richard Pombo of California introduced a bill in June 1997 to block the executive order. The bill never came to a vote, and the order went into effect in September of that year.

They turned to the courts, saying Clinton’s decision deprived them of their constitutional right to debate and vote on the program. A district judge in Washington, D.C., disagreed, and an appeals court has seconded that ruling.

The courts rarely step into the middle of political disputes between Congress and the president, the appeals court said. When they do, it’s usually after a president’s action improperly nullifies a vote in Congress.

That didn’t happen on the rivers initiative, the appeals court said.