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<br />C.ilbert F. Whitt <br /> <br />Q: As a matter of fact, as I recall, that original National Planning Board went by <br />the wayside because it was originally funded through the Emergency <br />Appropriations Act of '33. Then when that funding was gone, they had to <br />disband and then come up with some other. . . <br /> <br />A: They did. And they continually did this. The new National Resources Board <br />was set up by executive order, not by Congress. <br /> <br />Q: Now, Congress must have gotten a copy of this report, though, somewhere <br />along the way. I mean, this report went to the President. Clearly it would <br />have been sent to Congress, too. <br /> <br />A: Oh, yes. It was sent to Congress. <br /> <br />Q: Do you know if this report had any kind of impact on subsequent <br />congressional deliberations prior to the 1936 Flood Control Act? Was there <br />any connection between the two'! <br /> <br />A: There was frequent discussion in the old Interior Building and the old <br />Executive Office as to what the role of the findings of the Mississippi Valley <br />Committee and the National Resources Board had been in shaping either <br />agency policy or congressional legislation., It was tantalizing for the people <br />who had been connected with the committee at the top because if an agency <br />such as the Soil Conservation Service or the Corps of Engineers or Bureau of <br />Reclamation found something in the Mississippi Valley Committee report or <br />National Resources Board report that looked sound and promising to them, <br />they picked it up and used it as part of their ordinary presentations to the <br />Congress. Thus, the planning agency got very little credit for it on the Hill <br />if it seemed a good idea. If it was an unpopular or troublesome idea, the <br />agencies could say, well that's what the National Resources Board was <br />proposing. And the Resources Board members had no significant influence <br />on the Hill beyond what the President could claim for them. <br /> <br />Q: How about Abel Wolman himself? Did he have influence on the Hill? <br /> <br />A: No direct influence. The board followed a policy. When X speak of the <br />board I mean the National Resources Board, National Resources Planning <br />Board, National Resources Committee. They had a practice of making <br /> <br />13 <br />