Last week, Congressman Andrew Clyde (GA-09) achieved significant milestones in the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations process to safeguard Lake Lanier’s name and recreation sites. The House Appropriations Committee approved the FY26 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill on July 17th with a vote of 35-27.
During the markup, Rep. Clyde successfully preserved a provision to prevent the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from using taxpayer funds to rename civil works projects like Lake Lanier. An amendment led by Democrats to remove this provision was defeated with a vote of 26-35.
Additionally, Clyde secured an amendment allowing local partners managing multiple recreation sites at a USACE civil works project to use collected user fees across all their sites, rather than being restricted to spending only at the site where funds were collected. This amendment aligns with the Lanier Parks Local Access Act introduced by Reps. Andrew Clyde and Rich McCormick last week.
The Committee also approved language in the bill report requested by Rep. Clyde urging collaboration between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and state and local partners for park operations management transfer and streamlining lease approval processes for USACE sites.
Rep. Clyde expressed satisfaction with these developments: “I’m incredibly pleased that the FY26 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill includes critical provisions to both protect Lake Lanier’s name and help keep its parks open by providing local partners with flexibility to more effectively spend collected user fees,” said Clyde.
The FY26 Energy and Water Development appropriations bill will now proceed to the House floor for further consideration.
