September 15, 1977 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 29527 tic shipment) except in safe containers poses of national security, but such ship­ Armed Services of the Ho~se of Representa­ which (as determined by the Administration ment cannot be made in a safe container or tives and the Committees on Energy and Nat­ on the basis of appropriate tests) will not containers in accordance with the require­ ural Resources and Armed Services of the rupture under crash and blast testing equiv­ ment imposed by section 501, the shipment Senate, at the time of the shipment or with­ alent to the crash and explosion of a high­ may be made notwithstanding such require­ in 10 days thereafter, a written notification flying aircraft. ment but only if- and description of the shipment together "Sec. 502. If it is determined pursuant to " (1) express written authorization for the with a detailed explanation of the reasons rules promulgated by the Administrator of shipment is given by the Administrator per­ why it was necessary to make the shipment the Energy Research and Development Ad­ sonally; and by aircraft and why it was not possible to ministration that a particular shipment of "(2) the Administrator tra nsmits to the make the shipment in a safe container or plutonium by aircraft must be made for pur- Committees on Science and Technology and containers as required by section 501.' EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS IMPERIAL VALLEY DESERVES These are facts backed by a half-century KENTUCKY COURTS SENIOR CITIZENS BETTER of actual farmng experience. Over the years HOUSING PROJECTS, they were accepted by the federal govern­ Washington, D .C., September 2, 1977. ment, both administrators and courts, in ex­ We senior citizens have been greatly aided HON. BOB WILSON empting Imperial Valley from the rules im­ by this elected body. To cite a specific ex­ OF CALIFORNIA posed by the Bureau of Reclamation. ample: Ever since the cons truction of our public housing complex, residents tried to IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Thus, Imperial Valley farmers received a double shock in recent weeks when an ap­ get the local housing a-uthorities to put locks Thursday, September 15, 1977 peals court held that the Bureau's rules do on our ent ryways. We lived in constant apply to them, and when the secretary of anxiety because strangers had easy access to Mr. BOB WILSON. Mr. Soeaker, under the Interior added, three days later, that our hallways 24 hours a day. leave to extend my remarks in the residency regulations also would be enforced. Our Commissioner, who lives only a few RECORD, I include the following: Ostensibly the acreage limitations and blocks away, took a special interest in our (From the San Diego Union, Aug. 29, 1977] residency requirements are supposed to problems and discussed them with the full IMPERIAL VALLEY DESERVES BETTER encourage family farming. The fact is that Commission, ANC 6B. most of the farms in Imperial Valley are Within a few days, ANC 6B held a public Imperial Valley has one of two destinies. It meeting with a representative of housing can be a harsh desert of interest primarily family farms, both large and small. If the appeals court and secretary of Interior's rul­ and several residents from this housing to those bent on recreation, tourists, environ­ project. The Commissioners told the repre­ mentalists, fishermen and geologists. Or it ings stand, family farms would actually be broken up. sentative that they were deeply concerned can be, and is, a food basket for the United about the absence of security in our build­ States. Drastic consequences also would follow a breakup of the large Imperial Valley farms. ings, and urged the housing authorities to Until about the turn of the century, Im­ take immediate steps to correct this serious perial Valley was primarily a desert. It became They would become less efficient and pro­ problem. a food basket primarily because of the spirit ductive. The nature of Imperial Valley agri­ For the first time, since this complex was and endurance of several generations of culture would change drastically for the built about 5 years ago, we have locks on hardy farmers. They have literally made the worse and that part of the valley could start our hall doors; our mailboxes are secure; and desert bloom. changing back into a desert. On a broader window guards are scheduled to be placed All of this happened long before the U.S. scale, the entire economic structure of the on all first fioor apartments. Bureau of Reclamation established its pro­ region would suffer and prices of food would We need this community-based elected grams to develop agriculture on arid and go up for many Americans. body to help us live better lives. Please don't marginal lands in the western states. Indeed, It need not happen. The Imperial Valley kill them. Vote to refund the ANCs!! We Imperial Valley farmers were providing their agricultural story is indeed an all-American thank you. own irrigation and farming some 400,000 story of hardy pioneers carving out success­ Sincerely yours, acres of land before the All American Canal ful enterprises with their own hands and Mrs. Christine McNair, from- the Colorado River to the Valley was energies. It threatens to become an all-too­ built under the aegis of the Bureau. frequent modern-day American story in Presi dent. In the early 1900s, the federal government which an insensitive bureaucratic jugger­ recognized the equities and achievements of naut intrudes into an operation that is Imperial Valley farmers, as well as the unique working well and imposes harm and suffering. character of farming in the region. Wash­ The legal remedies available to the Im­ MEMBERS OF NEW MARYLAND ington exempted Valley farmers from Bureau perial Valley growers are few. Their hope is COMMISSION ON INDIAN AFFAIRS of Reclamation rules which limit individual that people become angry enough with this NAMED ownership of land to 160 acres if it is re­ latest bureaucratic excess to turn Washing­ ceiving irrigation water from federal dams­ ton around. and a rule that the person tilling the land We hope they do. HON. MARJORIE S. HOLT must live on it, or no farther than 50 miles OF MARYLAND from it. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES The exemption was valid then and is today. Imperial Valley farmers did not need the Thursday, September 15, 1977 All American Canal. They were already get­ SENIOR CITIZENS FAVOR FUNDING ting adequate irrigation water from another FOR ADVISORY NEIGHBORHOOD Mrs. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, Maryland canal that dipped ·through Mexico before re­ COMMISSIONS is very proud of the Indian cultural con­ turning to the United States. But they sup­ tributions to our State's heritage. I am ported the "All American" project with the happy to learn that the Maryland Gen­ understanding that acreage limitations HON. DONALD M. FRASER eral Assembly has recognized this seg­ would not apply and agreed to pay the fed­ OF MINNESOTA ment of the State's population and I be­ eral government $45 million as their share. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES lieve that the following release is worthy The simple fact is that the 160-acre limit­ of mention in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: ations are unrealistic in Imperial Valley. The Thursday, September 15, :.977 MEMBERS OF NEW MARYLAND COMMISSION ON kind of crops grown there, such as lettuce, Mr. FRASER. Mr. Speaker, ANC's in wheat, sugar beets and alfalfa, require large INDIAN AFFAIRS NAMED acreages. Other kinds of crops are not feas­ the District of Columbia are a helpful A separate Commission on Indian Affairs ible because the land is marginal and water link between the neighborhood residents ha,s been established by the Maryland Gen­ is so mineral laden that crops have to be and the District government. eral A&sembLy, with J . Hugh Prootor, a Piscat­ frequently rotated. One example is given in a letter from away and a retired Program Officer with the Nor is a 160-acre limitation practical Mrs. Christine McNair, president of the U.S. Army Matetial Command named as its when a track-type tractor costs more than tenants council at a senior citizens hous­ first chairman. $100,000, a combine $50,000 and a cotton ing project on Capitol Hill, where the Prior to the creation of the new Com­ picker $55,000. And a 160-acre limitation in mission, the Indian group had been a part Imperial Valley does not permit a farmer the ANC helped get locks on the hall doors, of the Commission on Afro-American and flexibility of planting several different kinds secure mailboxes, and plans for window Indian History and Culture which, in turn, of crops to cover losses if the market is poor guards on first floor apartments. changed its name after an amicable separa­ for any one of them. Mrs. McNair's letter follows: tion. Both Commissions are agencies of the cxxni--1858-Part 23 29528 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS September 15, 1977 Department of Economic and Community ONE AMONG MANY ment and Budget, Bert Lance, has failed Development. "Because of deep love, one is coura­ to transmit to Congress the administra­ Charged with initiating projects which geous."-Lao Tzu. tion position on H.R. 5383, my bill to ex­ further the understanding of Indian history No other phrase could better characterize tend the protection of the Age Discrimi­ and culture, the new Indian Commission will Pat Thoben who gave up her fight with can­ nation in Employment Act, despite the undertake a thorough demographic study cer June 7. Patricia Joan Thoben, 44, de­ of the native American peoples of Maryland, voted most of her life to working for equal fact that he has had a draft report from including, among others, the Haliwas and rights for handicapped persons.