June 30, 1972
Page 23566
STATEMENT BY MUSKIE
This year, as in each year since its initial authorization in 1965, I ask my colleagues to support planning and design money for the Dickey-Lincoln School hydroelectric power project in Maine.
The necessity for this project remains unchanged and the urgency for its completion undiminished. Despite increased construction costs due to inflation, the cost-benefit ratio for this project has also increased and still exceeds that of many other projects routinely undertaken by the Congress. Moreover, as events of recent days serve to remind us, the flood control benefits of this project in Maine's St. John's River valley are of critical importance.
Today there is almost universal agreement expressed by industry, consumers, and the government that we are confronted by the prospect of a national energy shortage during the coming decade. It is remarkable to me, in view of this fact, that funds for the construction of the Dickey-Lincoln School project face continued opposition in the House of Representatives. It is sadly ironic, too, that the Dickey-Lincoln School project would this year have been completed if the original construction schedule had been maintained.
As in the past, the Public Works Appropriation bill in the Senate includes $800,000 for advanced engineering and design work on the project. I respectfully urge the Senate to express its continued support for this measure in the hope that agreement can be reached with the House of Representatives on a level of appropriation suitable to resume planning for the Dickey-Lincoln School project.