CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -- SENATE
December 4, 1969
Page 36961
Mr. MUSKIE. I hesitate to interject at this time with reference to a project in my State. I would prefer that my colleague, Mrs. SMITH, had presented her statement on the conference report first. But I have a conference at 11 o'clock that I must attend, and she has graciously consented to my interjection at this point.
I deeply regret that the Dickey-Lincoln School project on the St. John River in Maine was not retained in the bill. I appreciate, first of all, the efforts made by my distinguished colleague over the years in steadfastly supporting and effectively persuading the committee and the Senate to support this project. There has been no breakaway from that support in the several years we have had this project before us. We have always been frustrated by the refusal of the House of Representatives to support it. I express my appreciation to Senator SMITH, to the distinguished Senator from Louisiana, who has been a good friend of this project over the years, to the Senate conferees, and, indeed, to the entire Senate, which has never undertaken to single out this project for attack in the way that it has been attacked on the House side.
Having said that, I should like to express my disappointment that so many Members of the House of Representatives from southern New England have never seen fit to give this project the support which it merits.
I also express disappointment that Members of the House of Representatives have not given New
England's power needs the kind of support which other areas of the country have received for similar projects. I repeat a point I have made several times, and that has been made by other Senators many times, in connection with this project: This project has to meet all the criteria for feasibility that have been met by other projects built with congressional appropriations throughout the years -- I think there have been some 170 or more built in other areas of the country -- this project has met all of the criteria for feasibility that they have met, and, indeed, has met those criteria better than three-fourths of those projects.
Mr. ELLENDER. This project has a very good benefit-to-cost ratio and, as I recall, this is the fourth time that the Bureau of the Budget has suggested an appropriation for the project. The Senate went along with the Budget Bureau, but the difficulty has always been on the House side, and it strikes me that it will require the concerted effort of all the Representatives from the northeastern area of our country, from New York onward to the Northeast, to get the project underway.
I am very hopeful that next year the President will see fit again to include this item in the budget. If he does, the Senate will go along. And if we can get a little assistance from the Congressmen, particularly in that area, I have no doubt that we will go ahead with the project. When I refer to Congressmen, I mean, of course, that some Senators will also help to get this matter through.
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, I appreciate the Senator's willingness to persist in the matter. I join with him, of course. I refer to the merits of the project in order to highlight what I think is the key roadblock of the whole project -- the perseverance of the power industry in the New England area and the influence that they, combined with their compatriots throughout the country, have been able to bring against the project.
I think the country ought to be concerned about the kind of power and influence exerted. And what is involved is not simply this project. This project is important to Maine and northern New England, and I think it is important also to southern New England. Beyond this, however, the frustration of Congress in being unable to fund the project is a reflection of the tremendous power and influence that this industry has, not only with regard to Dickey-Lincoln School, but also with respect to projects throughout the country.
This fight is symbolic of the much broader fight that must be waged if the sources of energy are to be controlled in the public interest.
I know it is of interest to the Senator, and it is of mounting concern to us in New England, which has no indigenous sources of power except hydroelectric sources. Wherever we turn to get relief from the oppressive costs of power, we are frustrated because of the influence of some industry which undertakes to stand in our way. In this case it is the private power industry of New England.
I take this time to press the point not only because of my concern with this project, but also with the entire problem.
Mr. ELLENDER. Mr. President, I am glad the Senator brought up the question. I am not aware of any area in the United States in which the power needs are greater and the power rates are higher than in the Northeast.
It is my considered judgment that if we are able to construct the project within the next 5 or 6 years, the power rates will go down considerably, to the benefit of all people living in that part of the country.