On September 11, 1997, President Clinton established the "American Heritage Rivers Initiative." The purpose of the Initiative is to protect natural resources, preserve historic and cultural sites, and revitalize the economies surrounding 10 rivers that will be selected from nominations submitted by river-side communities. Communities along selected rivers will receive technical assistance in implementing their locally designed river restoration plans. Among the rivers nominated for designation are the Hudson, Connecticut, Upper Mississippi, Willamette, South Platte, Rio Grande, and French Broad.

During consideration of H.R. 2107, the Fiscal Year 1998 Department of the Interior appropriations (budget) bill, Senator Tim Hutchinson (R-AR) offered an amendment that would cripple the Initiative by imposing cumbersome notice and consultation requirements and would require that Congress approve the designation of each of the 10 selected rivers.

Senator Alphonse D'Amato (R-NY) moved to table (kill) Senator Hutchinson's amendment. On September 18, 1997, the Senate agreed to the D'Amato motion 57 - 42. YES is the pro-environment vote.