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Show of this legislation, most of the members of Congress were convinced that they should support the enactment of a Colorado River Basin project law. 3. Some of the responsible parties in the Senate either could not or would not consider holding hearings on legislation to authorize a Colorado River Basin Project until H. R. 4671 had been passed by the House and sent to the Senate. The unfortunate illness and incapacitation of Senator Hay-den removed from the scene Arizona's most powerful force in the Congress. As noted above, it was reported that the Chairman of the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee was opposed to any meaningful study of water importation into the Colorado River Basin. This provision of the legislation has been considered of major importance in the light of other aspects of the Bill. Any Senate action on the legislation in the late stages of this session of Congress would necessarily be predicated on elimination, or drastic modification, of the present importation study language. In view of the strong opposition of the preservation organizations, a favorable vote on this legislation is not an easy vote for House members from the eastern States because many of them have an understandable reluctance to commit themselves in favor of legislation which may not result in a law. 4. H. R. 4671, as reported by the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, does not have the support of the present Executive Department of the Federal government. Neither the Bureau of the Budget nor the President have expressed support for this Bill. Without the support of the administration in power, any Bill of national significance usually finds itself in an uphill battle in the Congress. 5. Time is running out for Congressional consideration of H. R. 4671. The lengthy negotiations and the time consumed in drafting the legislation precluded a vote by the House of Representatives until mid-August. Had the Bill been ready for a House vote three months earlier there might have been time to satisfy the Congressional leadership that there were sufficient votes to pass the Bill, or to by-pass the Rules Committee, or perhaps to renegotiate the complex terms of the legislation, if that were deemed desirable. The latter part of an election year session of the Congress is extremely difficult. Both the House and Senate have agendas consisting of legislation that must be passed. House and Senate 45 |