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Show 250 WAR FOR THE COLORADO RIVER asked Congress to support his program to take at least forty million acres of farm land out of production." Continued Rep. Holifield: "Now, it is apparent that although Mr. Eisenhower and his Secretary of Agricul- ture, Mr. Benson, agree that we should have a gigantic "soil bank" and a soil conservation reserve, they do not agree on the policy of bringing more land into produc- tion through such projects as the Upper Colorado and the Frying Pan-Arkansas. "On October 11, 1955, Secretary Benson said in Kansas City - and I quote from the Kansas City Star of that date: " 'This is not the time to place a big new block of land in production.' "I admit that I cannot understand how the adminis- tration can reconcile these two programs. "A 'soil bank' is like any other bank. It must make sound investments or it will fail and the depositors and stockholders will lose money. "The administration's 'soil bank' cannot afford to invest in such unsound and unjustified projects as the Upper Colorado and the Frying Pan-Arkansas. "Latest figures of the Commodity Credit Corporation show that the taxpayers of this country have invested about $8 billion in the crop support program. It is costing us about $1 million a day to store our surplus farm products. "In the fearful struggle to alleviate this terrible bur- den, Mr. Eisenhower asks that the farmers of this country drastically decrease acreages now producing, and that at least twenty-five million of these acres be placed in a 'conservation reserve' and planted to forage and woodlands. |