The vote is on the Conte (R-MA) Motion to instruct House Conferees on the Energy and Water Resources Appropriations bill (HR 3132) to insist on the House position, which was to kill funding for construction of the project. Environmentalists have been fighting Garrison for years, as one of the most wasteful and destructive water projects in the country. This project would ultimately cost over $1 billion, and would flood nearly as much productive farmland as it would irrigate, providing an $800,000 subsidy to each farm that benefited. It would cause more damage to the National Wildlife Refuge System than any other project in history, destroying or damaging 12 wildlife refuges. Many of them are major breeding grounds for waterfowl and an important part of the Mississippi flyway of migratory birds. Garrison would also destroy large areas of native prairie wetlands, and pollute rivers flowing into two other states and Canada. The Canadian government claims that the project violates the U.S. - Canadian Boundary Waters Treaty.

Conte Motion rejected 150-215; June 23, 1983. YES is the pro-environmental vote.