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Show A STACKED COMMITTEE 153 The attitude of the Louisiana senator was revealed one evening when he and the author got to chatting at a social affair. Asked by Terrell why he had voted for the crsp, Long replied: "Hell, that wasn't a vote for the bill. It was a vote for Carl Hayden. The project stinks." Thus, the behind-the-scenes power of Senator Hayden of Arizona! The Senate committee gave as its main reasons for approving the bill: (a) Storage dams would permit the Upper Basin to conserve water in dry years and meet its obligations to the Lower Basin; (b) the project was fi- nancially sound; and (c) less than three per cent of the total cost was non-reimbursable. The structure of Senator Kuchel's lone minority re- port, which he displayed on the Senate floor, contained twelve bones: 1 - The bill reported by the committee is not the bill approved by the administration. 2 - Project authorizations of this magnitude, subject only to secretarial review, delegate excessive authority to the Secretary and constitute bad legislation. 3 - Additional storage units are unwarranted and in- feasible. 4 - Irrigation projects are financially infeasible. 5 - The financial plan constitutes a drastic departure from the existing reclamation law. 6 - The huge concealed subsidy is unjustified. 7 - The ultimate cost is at least $5 billion. 8 - Essential engineering, economic, and financial data are lacking. 9 - The bill undercuts the Hoover Commission. 10 - The power to be generated will be high-cost power which must be continued for at least seventy-five years under the financing plan of the project. |
