WSP01144 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

DJlJ836 22122 which said-and I Quote theIr . thl. bill report: We bcHeve the eoncept or Federal-Stll.te coopernuon In river basin plllDnJng and de- velopment, IlS proposed In the blll, 1.s not only desirable but consl.6tent witb lIound principles ot intergovernmental relatlona In our Federal ftY6 tern. Success or the propooed progrnm ot course would depend on the way 10 which both levels of government react to their re.!lpOllelbllltles. By bnvlng aD aeLlve role in 'Cobe plll.nnlng procese, the Btales wauld ha.ve nil added 1ncentlve to undertake developmental and construction proJecta contained In the plana developed by bnsln canunLsslonll . . .. Insofar 88 wa are aware, the proposed Federal-State structure for river ba.sln com- rnls.&lons would establish B novel pattern for furthering Intergovernmental cooperation. but one of mnjor advaDtage to our Federal eystcm In Ul.at It is adaptable to cbanglnll' times and circumstances. i , " , i I must confess that I am a little bIt proud of the fact that in the prepara- tion of this bill there has de"cloped an agency pattern which this great Com- mission has described as something new and novel, which can be of major ad- vantage In furthering Intergovernmen-. tal cooperation within our Federal system. My pride in It Is partly based on the source of that comment. The Advisory CommIssion Is not a partIsan body, but a bipartIsan commission of outstanding practJUoners of the art 01 government at . every so.cnlled level within our system. It includes. besides our three distin- guished Senate members, Governors John Anderson, of Kansas. and Robert E. Smylie, of Idaho, Mayors Richard Batterton, of Denver, Raymond Tucker. of St. Louis. Neal BlaIsdell, of Hawal1, and Arthur Na.ftal1n, of Minneapolis. The Chairman of the Commission is an outstanding political scientIsts and ad.. mlnlstrator, the Honorable Frank Bane. Title m of the measure before U5, Mr. President, Is the mlnlmwn program of aid to States for water resources plan. nlng proposed In the select committee recommendatJon No.5. It authorizes the appropriation at $5 mllllon each year for 10 Years, to be apportioned out to Ute St~tes on a matching basIs, to de. velop State water plans, Including both intrastate and interstate water re. 15ources. their own independent planning, and planning wh.lch may be done by title II commissions, Interstate Compact Commission. or other lnteratate water planning agencies wIth which the State works. The formula for the distribution at the State aid funds Is a rather complex one, based on population, land area. need for water resources planning, and finan-. cIa! need. On the average. States can get up to 50 percent matching. to pay the cost of developing State water plans. IndIvid- ual states will be eligible to more or less than 50 percent matchJng depending on their average per capita Income. If their average per capita Income Is more than the U.S. average, the ratio matchIng will be less than 50 percent. If theIr per capita Income Is low, and. they have less than average Americans to spend. then they will get more than 50 percent matchlnlr. The Peden.l i. I 1 '- I I i I' 1 I: I CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENA1Ji matching is never to be more than two- thirds or less than one-third. except in Instances where the States adopt some elabora.te scheme where even one-thJrd of the cost exceeds their share of the $5 mlUion under the populatIon area need allotment. A State cannot get more than Its allotment under the population area Deed distribution originally made. I am advised that this same formula Is workIng well In the Pollution Control Act, from which It was taken. Title IV of the b1l1 has several house. keeping provisions. One authorizes nec- essary appropriatIons. Othel.s authorize . rulemaklng. delegatIon of some functions by the counell members, borrowing of personnel for planning from established agencies, where it Is agreeable to the em- . ployIng agency. and provision of em- ployee benefit programs. During commIttee consideration of the b1l1, we have adOPted several amend- ments to make It satisfactory to the ex. eeutlve agencies. We adopted one to make it clearer that the measure does not displace. supersede. or limit existing interstate compact commissions and like established agencies. . As t.he report on the bill states, the only disagreement with the executive branch remaining. of which we are aware, is an authorizing proviSion which would allow the CIvil Service Commls... slon to extend Federal employee beneflt programs to commission employees. on a contract basis. We want the planning commissions to have the very finest water resources planning personnel. We dQ not want loss ot Federa! employee benefits to be a deterrent to working for a. commIs- sion. We would like to see them become an attraction. In any event, we do not require the Civil ServIce Commission to contract to provide such benefit programs, we just authorI~e them to, and then provide a 'tittle persuasion toward tha~ end in the report on the bUl. ThIs river basin planning bUI has more widespread support. than anyone could have conceIved pOSSible when the meas- ure was first proposed. President Dwight Eisenhower's Budget Director sent a river basin planning blll . up to Congress on January 18. 1961. It did not even get Introduced In Congress until President Kennedy, in July 19B1, used the Eisenhower bill as the model for title n 01 his bill. - Our committee dJd not have a handful of witnesses In favor of title n In presl.. dent Kennedy's blU In the first series of hearIngs. As revised, we have not had a handful of opposition. The Interstate Conference on Water Problems. to which all 50 States belong,- endorses It heartily, as does the Council .of . State Governments, its parent organization. The National Reclamat.lon Associa- tion, the National Rural Electric CooP- eraUve Association, the National Associ- ation of Sol1 Conservation DLstrict Omcials and organizations which have not been In the same room together tor years tell us ti1lll blU Is all rJght. BesIdes their endorsemeat through 'Lb.e - _ council 01 States Governments and In- -, December 4 terst.ate Conference, the officials at 33 States have Independentt:,. sent in mes- sages of approval. 6 more liked it with certain amendments, and only 3 saw fit .to oppose. Mr. President, I belleve we have an opportunity to take a step forward to- ward this Nation's 55-year-old goal of river basin planning by the enactment of B. 1111. I hope that the Senate will pass It with a big majority as a recommenda- tion to the House of Representatives to do likewise. Mr. President. I wish to compliment the able Senator from Colorado [Mr. ALLOTTI, who has been engaged In the study of thIs bll1 over a long perIod of Urne. The Senator from Colorado wilJ offer certain amendments. I appreciate the way In which the Senator has worked on the amendments. He has not suddenly flashed them on the Senate. so as to require Senators: to consider them sud- denly. Over a long neriod of time he has discussed the principles Involved. So far as we can, we shall try to meet the objec- tions and requests of the Senator from Colorado, who has done an extremelY outstanding job In this particular field. He has done an outstanding Job In many other fields, but this Is one field In which I have seen his work, and I appreciate the contribution he has made. The PRESIDING OFFICER The bill 15 open to amendment. Mr. ALLOTI'. Mr. Pr..ldent. wll1 the Senator yield? Mr. ANDERSON. I am happy to yield to the Senator from Colorado. Mr. ALLOTT.. I thank the distin- guished senior Senator from New Mexico for his kind remarks. I always enjoy working with hIm on any matt.er which pertains to water, because he is quite knowledgeable In this field. I am a llttle embarrassed to find It necessary to offer amendments under thel5e clrcumstancea. although the Sena- tor has been entirely gracious about It. The Senator knows and understands that at the time of both markup ses- sions on the bill in the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs I was com- . petled to attend other committee meet- ings. and Jt was Dot possible lor me to attend the sesslol18 on the markup of the bill or to present my amendments, al- though the Senator and I have discussed many ttmes the general nature of my Ideas about the bUI. . At this time I merely wish to express my appreciation to the Senator. I be- lieve other Senators would like to ask him some questions. I will yield at this time, 60 that they may do so, before I make my statement. - Mr. ANDERSON. Mr. PresIdent. I understand the situation which the Senator from Colorado "faced. He was busily engaged in work on appropria- tion bills, and in particular one bill with respect to which he was the rankIng member of the subcommittee. His pres- ence was absolutely required.. We discussed what we should do- whether we should call off aU our hear- '(ngs and. wait untU the Senator was free. There II no way of knowIng when a