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Show DOLLARS INTO DUST 255 "foul," "devious," "phony" and "steal."311 Watkins went so far as to pry into Hosmer's personal mail, brazenly admitting before the Senate that he had asked the Secretary of the Interior to send him copies of cor- respondence between the congressman and that depart- ment.312 The Secretary had complied. Watkins in- serted two of the letters in the Congressional Record, adding comments of his own.313 The Ghinle report and the idle farmland study had engendered such intense feeling in the House that the powerful House Republican Policy Committee thought it wise to consider the situation in a special meeting. Once more it was decided to let the White House have its way. But it was not only the Republicans who opened the House gate for the project. Beside Republican leader Martin at the portal stood Speaker of the House Ray- burn and Democrat leader McCormick. The three most powerful men in the House were united. On February 28, 1956, Rayburn called for consideration of HR. 3383. The crsp bill had been sent out of the Rules Com- mittee with what parliamentary parlance termed a "four-hour rule." Under this procedure, each side would have an hour in which to argue whether it should be taken up for debate for that length of time. The arguments were heard, but there was never any doubt about the outcome.314 A number of congressmen who might vote against the project would not vote against bringing it up for debate. McCormick, the first to speak on the rule question, declared the project was "another step, another con- tribution to the progress of our country." "Should this matter be disposed of on the rule," re- |