NATION IN BRIEF : WASHINGTON, D.C. : Senate Rejects Cut in Dam’s Water Flow

The Senate refused to put the environmental protection of the Grand Canyon over Western energy needs, rejecting a measure to restrict water flow through the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River. Even though senators had approved a nearly identical measure last year, the 65-34 vote signaled that they did not want it included as part of a $12.7-billion appropriations bill for the Interior Department next year. “I believe people all over this country are going to be outraged,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the bill’s chief sponsor, said when he failed to muster the 60-vote majority needed to overcome parliamentary objections and keep the issue alive in the appropriations bill.