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G00876 22132 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENJ\. fE " Mr. COOPER. Mr. President. wlll the We establish the priorities upon the basis Senator yield? of the best Information tha.t we have. Mr. ALLO'IT. I yield. The proposed language offers some Mr. COOPER. I address myself to reasons for a more orderly development the Senator from New Mexico. of the priorlUes in a river basin. I &Ill I refer to page 8<b) (3). The Ian.. glad to see that provision. guagc of that subparagraph provides Mr. ALLOTT. Mr. President, I could that-- not agree more wholeheart.edly with the (b)Ench such commllsslon tor a region, distinguished Senator from Kentucky. river bn.aln, or group of rlver bB.lllns sball- particularly in view of the budget sitUB- (3) Reconunend long-range ochedules of tlon in our country at the present time. priorities lor the collection and analysis or It the Chief Executive of our country, basic data and for Investlgatlon. plannlng the Bureau of the Budget, and the Mem- and construction of projects. bers of the Congre5S--I do not leave us That language holds great value. I out--would make up their minds about should I1ke to state my vIews on the a. reasonable system and basis of prior- question to the Senator from New Mex. lUes for the things our country needs lea and the Senator from Colorado. I. and would con.lder them In a logical have served on the Committee on Public order. I believe the budget of our conn- Works, which, as Senators know, author- try could be reduced by about 25 percent izes the Corps. of Engineers projects. a year. One of the problems Is the question of Mr. MTI...LER. Mr. President, will the priorities. The Corps of Engineers un. Senator yield for a comment and a ques- dertakes surveys. At times projects tion? which are not as valuable to a river basin Mr. ALLOTT. I yield. In terms of the conservation of water or Mr. Mn..LER. I should like to have flood control as others precede In devel. the attentton of the Senator from New opment those which should be under. Mexico. taken flrst. Recently the Senate passed the bill I belIeve that the provision to which (8. 649) to amend the Federal Water I have referred offers an opportunity to Pollution Control Act and establ1sh a. correct that situation. A commission Federal Water PollutIon AdminisLratlon. would be working In the basin itself, and The Senator from Iowa happens to be that commission would be able at least a member of the Special Subcommittee to give its advice to the Congress In re. on Air. and Water Pollution. latlon to priorities In that river basin. I detect a possible overlapping or per- At least the CongrelSs could consider that haps even a conflict with the bill which advice. From my experience as a mem- Is now pending Insofar as water pollu- ber of the Committee on Public Works I tlon activities might be concerned. do not believe that there is any source For example, the bill points out that to which we can now look for the esta.b. the various river basin commissions serve lIshment of such prioritIes on even a as the principal agency for the coordlna- COrolS of Engineers project. tlon of Federal, State. Interstate and Mr. ANDERSON. One of the reasons local plans and for the development of why the committee was established in water and related land resources. the first place on the motion of the able TechnIcally that language coUld con- Senator from Montana [Mr. MANSFIELD]. tuct with the provision In the Water . was that we were trying our very best to Pollution Control Act, which we have establish priorities. I know that the passed, and In which we have prOvided Senator from Montana had In mind that that the Water Pollution Control Ad- we should start a system of priorities. ministration, operating in the omce of The Public Works Committee was ade- the Secretary of Health. Education. and . quateJy represented by Senator Kerr, Welfare. wlll do that very thing insofar who was an eloquent spokesman for the as water pollution activities are con- proposal. and by the then chairman of cerned. the committee, Senator Chavez. Many On pa.ge'9 of the bill which Is pending, members of the committee were present. It Is also provided that the commissions They stressed the very point which the would foster and undertake studies of Senator from Kentucky has now made; water problems In the various regiOns. namely. that many times projects are This would perhaps technically contltct given top priority which should not have. with the duties of the Water Pollution been given tlrst consideration. The lan. Control Administrator of the Depart- goage merely suggests that It might be. ment of Health, Education, and Welfare, desirable ~ set up the priorities to see for which we have provided. what they are like. The Congress would I should Uke to establlsh a bit of leg. then have the right to do what it would 18latlve history. so that It will be clear. wish to do. At least we would know .that there Is nothing In the b1lllntended what the priorities ought to. be. to overlap or dupUcate, or conflict with Mr. COOPER. I am glad that the the duties of the Secretary of Health, point was developed. We are all aware -. Education, and Welfare, and of the of the fact that when public works au. Water PollutIon Control AdmJntstrator thorizatlon bills come before the Senate. whIch are provided for In s. 649. some question their value. Perhaps at Mr. ANDERSON. Mr. President, w1l1 times Senators have reason for doing so. the Senator yield? I Include even those Senators who have Mr. ALLOTI'. I yield. served as members of the committee. Mr. ANDERSON. I appreciate the We know that the Corps of. E~glneer8 question of the Senator from Iowa. I has performed these duties and p~r.. Bay to the Senator that that 18 exactly formed them well. But It is not required why the language 18 in the bUl. We ex... by the Congress to esl.abl18h priorities. peet that thIs will coordinate plal1ll. We ~. Decernber 4 expect that the water pollution control groups wlll develop their own plans. This group will not do the planning. Arter the water pollution control groups have developed their plans. somebody will coordinate them with the Depart. ment of the Interior. which may be de. veloping a dam In the area for the Irriga- tion of the area or for the development of water power. Whatever else may bc done by the Army Corps of Encineers. or by anyone else. It should be coordinated with what has wisely been wrltten Into the blll for the preparation of water pollution control programs. That is exactly what Is Intended. We _wish to make sure that there w1ll not be a contllctIng Interest, but Instead a coor- dinating Interest. That Is what the Senator from Colorado well established a short while ago. "Coordination" has meanJng and purpose. We mean that they shall coordinate the plans for the development of water with the plans made for water pollution control proj. ects, plans made for flood control proj. . ects. and all other plans the Government has to avoid duplication and overlap. We do not wish to have one agency going In one direction and another agency going In another direction, with no re- gard for each other. I am glad the Senator from Iowa has raised this point. He has stated pre- cisely what we hope to accomplish. Mr. MILLER. There Is no intention to have the commIssions to be established under the bill duplicate the work of the Secretary of Health. EducatIon, and Welfare and In particular of the Water Pollution Control Admlnlstrator._ for which we have provided In S. 649, re. cently passed Mr. ANDERSON. For the sake of the record, I am happy to say there Is no such Intention at all. Mr. MILLER. I did not believe there was any such intention. but I think It Is wise that we have built a legisla- tive history. Mr. ANDERSON. I quite agree. I only wish I could think of all of these things myself, but I cannot. I therefore . appreciate It when some other Senator brings up a point. as the Senator from Iowa has done. Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, wlli the Senator Yield? Mr. ALLOTI'. I yield to the Senator from Wyoming. . Mr. SIMPSON. I have listened to the colloquy with respect to the biB and with respect to the' amendments to the bill which have been agreed to. I stili have considerable misgivings about futul'e prospects under the measure. Though I am eager to try to find a way to persuade myself to vote In favor of the b1ll, I am worried about the context and worried about the posslbllltles for tak- Ing -away water rights of the West and putting them under the supervIsion of a Federal agency, without too much being Bald by the States themselves. I wish to make my position crystal clear to the Senator from Colorado and the Senator from New Mexico. I Bhall vote against the measure, even as amended.