Congressman Bud Cramer is known for being one of the moderates in Washington.

But Friday, Cramer took an uncharacteristically tough stance in telling the Athens Rotary Club that the “middle-of-the-roaders are looking for a way of taking over” and restoring “common sense” to both houses of Congress. He also had some strong words for high-placed administration officials who “spoon feed” information about the war in Iraq while demanding ever more exorbitant funding.

While he was at it, Cramer also pointed an accusing finger at the Alabama Department of Transportation for dragging its feet on building the Interstate 65 Tanner interchange. He said that in working with state and local industrial recruiters they are selling industries on sites adjacent to the prospective interchange and the holdup is hurting economic prospects of the county.

Cramer told Rotary Club members that after three years of debate, a final transportation authorization bill was signed into law last August. The Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (TEA-LU) includes $800,000 for the proposed interchange at Interstate 65 and Huntsville-Brownsferry Road.

In addition to the funding provided in TEA-LU, Cramer said he has secured a total of $4.3 million. This amount includes $1 million in fiscal year 2005, $1 million in 2004, and $1.5 million in 2003. Cramer secured this funding through his seat on the House Appropriations Committee. Cramer encouraged Rotary members to “keep the pressure” on the state transportation officials in Montgomery and urge them to begin work on this much-needed roadway.

Cramer said that since beginning work on the Intermodal Transportation Efficiency Act (ITEA) nearly 16 years ago, the funding had replaced the Keller Bridge over the Tennessee River, funded several tourism and recreation projects, added lanes to U.S. 72 through Jackson County, funded a study of the Memphis-to-Atlanta corridor, among other projects.

“During that time we’ve had five different governors and five different state Department of Transportation directors and it’s been a lot of frustration,” he said. “We have given enormous amounts of money and all we hear is what they can’t do. Gov. Riley asked me what the problem was when we got money for the interchange . Well, Montgomery is still calling the shots when something will be built and in the meantime, prices go up.

“I have been critical of ALDOT and Gov. Riley asked me what I criticized them for. I reminded him of his problems (when Riley was a congressman) with (former ALDOT director) Mack Roberts when he needed to pound the table in private to get these issues worked out.”

On the national and international fronts, Cramer said it was going to be “a difficult year in Washington.” He called the administration’s response to disaster relief “appalling” and “defense hawks on both sides of the aisle” are growing increasingly uneasy with “defense budgets with no end in sight.” He said Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in effect, has repeatedly said, “We need it for the war and you ought to give it to us.” But he said $500 billion later, he told the Department of Defense “I’m tired of being barely spoon fed on issues you ask me to vote on.”

As to President Bush’s domestic surveillance program, Cramer said he was not made privy to the president’s information until two days ago, when just eight highly-placed government officials were informed on the fundamentals.

“It’s working effectively,” said Cramer. “It’s working to defeat terrorists.”