By Laura Weber, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-909409.mp3
LANSING, MI –
A partisan fight broke out on the state Senate floor Thursday over who is to blame for a 20-pound Asian Carp found close to Lake Michigan this week.
AUDIO:
The finger pointing was over a resolution that condemned President Obama for not doing enough to stop the invasive fish from finding its way past electric fences near Chicago. Senate Democrats say authority to close the canals also rests with the Army Corps of Engineers.
Republican Senator Bruce Patterson says the bickering is pointless.
"We should not belabor the point and argue about whether or not the Obama Administration or the Army Corps of Engineers should be included in the language. Rather than whisper we must yell from the roof tops in one voice, Stop the carp!'"
But Democrats say Republicans used the resolution to score partisan points against a Democratic president. They say the carp issue is an ecological disaster that has been brewing for many years.