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I the Office of Management and Budget has been doing now for some years, it can prevent con- struction from being started in five years. This is what they have done already. On the Savery-Pot Hook and Fruitland Mesa we have had construction funds appropriated for several years past, but they were withheld by the Office of Management and Budget. Therefore, it is impossible for us to comply with the five- year schedule. I can't overemphasize the importance of protesting this type of document. It has been hailed as a great method of saving the environ- ment. Apparently, environmentalists are for it. I can't find that in here myself. The Environmental Protection Act takes care of that matter and insures that proper consideration is given to environmental matters. That's not my quarrel with these principles. I think we all recognize that environmental matters must play an important part in the planning process. I The 7 percent rate is based on some false premises. They state that if the federal gov- ernment invests money in water resource projects, then the federal government foregoes taxes from the private sector because of the investment that otherwise people would make in the private sector. Therefore, the government is losing tax money as a result of investing in water re- source projects. They give that as one of the major reasons for the 7 percent rate. This ignores the fact, of course, that people invest money in the government at a much lesser rate, as I say, around 3 3/4 percent in short-term bonds and a little higher rate in some of the long-term bonds. This ignores the fact that people are taxed upon the interest which they get from those government bonds. At least that's what the tax laws say. It must come as a surprise to people who invest in government bonds that they don't have to pay taxes on them. The federal government does fully tax the interest that you get from federal bonds. -57-