OCR Text |
Show THE IDES OF MARCH 109 the necessary storage of water to make the plan work at its maximum efficiency. I am deferring my recommendation on the Shiprock unit of the Navajo project until the secretary has completed his study. I hope the congress will give early consideration to en- actment of the administration's legislative proposal. I firmly believe development of the upper Colorado River Basin, in accordance with its provisions, is in the national interest. No one in Washington seemed to recall that a Presi- dent ever before had gone to such lengths to approve a western reclamation project. Many presidents had signed reclamation bills into law, but when, if ever, had a president given his personal endorsement to a single project with such unqualified support and in such a public manner? No one could say. Of course, there was dancing in the streets of the Upper Basin, and back slapping in the offices of the Upper Basin congressmen and senators. Mr. Eisen- hower's statement showed a careful attempt to strike at all the main criticisms of opponents. (Similarity of language in the news release and the Budget Bureau's letter to McKay also showed the maternal relationship of the two documents.) Senator Watkins could hardly wait for the doors of the Senate to open at noon on the following Monday. The President's proclamation in hand, he took the floor and, with beaming countenance and excited eyes, told the three or four other senators who happened to be present all about the good news. He would have talked to an empty chamber if necessary. He spoke of the President's "blanket approval" of the crsp as "an historic event/'131 The project was now a |