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Show Chapter 6 A Resources Investment Program THIS REPORT HAS EMPHASIZED the im- portance of handling resources conservation and development programs from start to finish on a comprehensive multiple-purpose basis. From the authorization of surveys to the enactment of appropriation legislation, the river basin program rather than the particular function or project should be treated as the unit. The end result of the program formulation process would be a Fed- eral resources investment program aimed at pre- serving and increasing the production value of the Nation's resources. Each year this program would furnish the basis for a Federal renewable resources budget for the ensuing fiscal year. This procedure would provide for preparation of comprehensive multiple-purpose basin pro- grams and annual basin budgets, subdivided by projects and by the agencies assigned to under- take special phases of the work. The basin pro- grams would be combined annually into a single national renewable resources investment program. Similarly, the annual basin budgets would be fused into a single national renewable resources budget for the ensuing fiscal year, subdivided by basins and by agencies assigned responsibilities in connection with specific projects in the several basin programs. Thus Congress should have each year a clear picture of the needs and im- mediate proposals for each major river basin. This single, integrated investment program would schedule the amounts needed for resources development, basin by basin and function by func- tion, over a reasonable period of years. It would provide a broad, clear picture of the condition of our resources and of what needs to be done to as- sure their permanence and increase their pro- ductivity. It would also show the regional and national needs for investment in this field, and the interrelationships among these needs. It would permit the public to make an informed judg- ment as to the objectives of investment, and the priority of specific investment programs and projects. The program should become a part of a gen- eral Federal program for capital investment, which would represent the decision of the Nation to make funds available for stated purposes. It would fit the resources program into place as an integral part of the general program, which would include provision for education, social security, highways, national defense, and the other func- tions for which the Federal Government may be responsible, in whole or in part. Public Investment and Economic Stability Aggregate expenditures for resources develop- ment and for other public works are large, and if we are to build wisely for the future, such ex- penditures must be even larger in the next few decades. These expenditures obviously have a considerable effect upon the whole economy. Further, since many public works projects are not related to the daily problems of business operations nor to the daily needs of consumers, they are subject to adjustment in their time of 87 |