| OCR Text |
Show 260 WAR FOR THE COLORADO RIVER had committed himself to preserve Dinosaur. The con- ference committee was deadlocked at five to five, and the wrangling went on through four meetings before Watkins finally gave up.322 The bill as it had come from the conference com- mittees was approved by both the House and Senate on March 28, 1956.323 (See Appendices n, e, and f.) It reached President Eisenhower at Augusta, Georgia, on April 11th. As he signed it into law, the President said: "This represents something I believe in." In view of the support given the crsp, it was aston- ishing that even twenty-eight Senators and a hundred and thirty-six Representatives had courage enough to vote against it. The leadership of both Houses sup- ported it, and the most influential men in each cam- paigned for it. As for California, Vice-president Nixon turned his back on the controversy and refused to assist his state. California's two senators were ineffectual. Kuchel made only a token resistance. Although he voted against the bill, Knowland sat silent during the fight on the Senate floor. In the House, ten of California's thirty congress- men - five Democrats and five Republicans - voted for the project. The President repeatedly had demanded its passage, and his chief assistant, Sherman Adams, had directed a formidable contingent of White House aides on Capitol Hill to secure votes, offering all manner of lures. Nothing but a directive from the Almighty could have stopped such a powerful coalition of political forces from achieving victory. |
