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Clyburn declines Sanford's invite to join kayak trip

No thank you.

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn respectfully declined Gov. Mark Sanford's invitation to kayak through the Sparkleberry Swamp on Sunday.

The governor announced his planned trip to The T&D Region last Thursday, just three days after Clyburn organized a rally in Columbia to protest President Bush's visit. The congressman has also actively spoken out against the president's proposed Social Security changes in town meetings across his district.

In publicizing the kayaking trip, Sanford has pushed his 2005 Family Fitness Challenge and his opposition to building a bridge over the swamp in the northern portion of Lake Marion, one of Clyburn's pet projects.

"If we build this bridge, a pristine natural area of our state will be gone forever," Sanford stated Tuesday in a news release. "It seems odd to me to spend more than $100 million on a new bridge when 10 miles up the river, the 601 bridge is in critical need of repair."

Sanford was slated to extend a personal invitation to all members of the State Highway Commission to join him on the kayaking trip to discuss the bridge proposal.

According to the governor's press release, the proposed bridge would only cut the drive time between Sumter and Orangeburg by about three minutes.

"As a state, we need to do a better job of setting priorities, and our first priority should be taking care of what we already have," Sanford stated. "The Department of Transportation has not paved a secondary road in four years."

But Clyburn told The T&D last week the project is not about reducing the drive time between Orangeburg and Sumter. Nor is it about just the hamlets of Lone Star and Rimini.

"It's about the thousands of families who live along (the state roads 33 and 120 corridors) and what we can do to improve the quality of life of those people," the congressman said.

"I'd like for the governor to get out of his kayak and walk into those homes I have walked into and talk to those people I have talked to," Clyburn said, "and stop with all the gimmickry and start doing some positive things to improve their health."

In Tuesday's release, the governor reminded Palmetto State residents to take up his challenge to become more active. He has urged South Carolinians to run, walk, ride, swim, work in the back yard or in this case, canoe; the important part is to do something each day. The kayak tour will launch from Sparkleberry Landing at 1 p.m. Sunday. The tour group will rally 30 minutes before the launch at an easier-to-find point at Exit 102 off Interstate 95. Anyone wishing to bring their kayak and join the governor on the trip should contact Chris Crolley at Coastal Expeditions at (843) 884-7684 or visit the governor's Web site at www.scgovernor.com, and click on the Family Fitness Challenge link.