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Show Senator Vatkins Blames President For Delay On Colorado River Development Senator Arthur V. Watkins (R-Utah) Friday told the Senate Sen-ate that development of the Upper Coloraldo River Basin has been stalled because of the "evasions, vacillations and unconscionable un-conscionable delay" of President Truman and his executive departments. de-partments. "The Congressmen and Senators Sen-ators from the Upper Basin States agreed early in the 82nd Congress that they would introduce in-troduce and sponsor as a unit the necessary bills to bring about the authorization of this project," he said in a 30-min-use speech on the senate floor. Senator Watkins said he was recently informed that certain conflicting interests between executive ex-ecutive departments had caused the delay which has prevented the submission of the Basin report re-port to congress and the subsequent subse-quent introduction of legislation. legisla-tion. One of the reported conflicts exists between the Army engineers en-gineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, Rec-lamation, the Senator explained. He called attention to a recent exchange of letters between General Lewis A Pick, chief of Army engineers, and Michael W. Straus reclamation commissioner, commis-sioner, wherein the engineers voiced their disapproval ot certain cer-tain aspects of the project "Even the most cursory reading of this correspondence. Senator Sen-ator Watkins said, "clearly reveals re-veals the specious nature of the objections raised by the Corps of Engineers. A calculated course of conduct of non-cooperation on the part of the Corps of engineers is obvious even to the casual reader." Senator Watkins said the Department De-partment of Agriculture also was reported as having some or jections, but he pointed out that it will be impossible, in considering a project of such size, to ever eliminate all conflicts. con-flicts. "Certainly there are no conflicting con-flicting interests between the Upper Basin States nor between the interested groups within the states. They are unanimous in their support of the project," he said. Senator Watkins said he was confident that the Secretary of Interior would be glad to bring the controversy with the army engineers into the open if it were not for one stumbling block President Truman's "no new reclamation starts" order. This order has not only fare-stalled fare-stalled the Central Utah and Colorado River Basin projects, but it also has thwarted all efforts ef-forts to obtain construction funds for the Weber Basin Project Pro-ject in Utah as well as other reclamation projects throughout the West, he said. The Senator noted that the president's policy is completely contradictory to the campaign promises he made the people of Utah and the West when he toured that area seeking reelection re-election in 1948. "What I am trying to make clear," he concluded, "is that the members of congress from these western states have been here trying to get action for several years, but at every turn their efforts have been stymied by the evasions, the vacillation and . the unconscionable delay of the executive department. Such is the story. Let the blame for inaction on this great project rest where it belongs with the President and his Department of Interior. How does that Lone St?r State song go "The Ides of Taxes Are Upon You?" Detroit De-troit News. |