RELIEF TO WATER USERS ON UNITED STATES RECLAMATION AND INDIAN IRRIGATION PROJECTS JUNE 15, 1937.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. WHITE of Idaho, from the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 5853] The Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, to whom has been referred a bill (H. R. 5853) providing for the creation of a commission to extend further relief to water users on United States reclamation projects and on Indian irrigation projects, has considered the same and submit the following report: As a result of diverse conditions existing in the reclamation States affecting the financial status of the several reclamation districts, the factors involved have brought prosperous conditions in some districts and adverse conditions in others, where reduced incomes have impaired the finances of these districts, with the result that the water users are unable to pay their annual installment on construction charges. To meet this situation the Department and the Congress find it necessary to revise and reorganize the existing plan for assessing and collecting the charges standing against the several reclamation districts. The Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation have had under consideration both the Senate bill (S. 413), which would extend a blanket moratorium of 50 percent on construction charges to all reclamation districts and establish an investigating commission; and, H. R. 5853, to provide for a commission to investigate the financial, economic, and other conditions of the several reclamation districts, and determine their ability to pay their assessed annual charges, and to recommend a revision, where found necessary, of the terms and period in which charges due the Government may be paid, and to submit their findings with recommendations to Congress as soon as practicable. The committee was opposed to a blanket moratorium for the reason that there were projects that could and should pay, and the purpose of this bill is to determine those projects which cannot pay and give them relief, but projects that can pay will, still under the law, be required to live up to their contracts. Full moratoria have been granted on Federal irrigation projects for the calendar years 1931-35, inclusive, and by the act of April 14, 1936, 50 percent of the construction charges for 1936 were deferred. This act also provided for the creation of a commission of three to study conditions on the projects and report to Congress with its recommendations as to the best, most feasible and practicable, comprehensive permanent plan for the determination of water-right payments. This act authorized an appropriation of $5,000 for the expense of this commission. No money was appropriated and the commission was not organized. The question of a further extension of the moratorium for the calendar year 1937 received early attention in the present session of Congress and several bills were introduced. The first, H. R. 1499, introduced January 5, provided for the creation of a commission of five members and an authorized appropriation of $50,000, and a continuation of the 50-percent moratorium for 1937 charges. On January 6, S. 413 was introduced, authorizing the commission created under the act of April 14, 1936, to continue its investigations with an authorized appropriation of $50,000. The bill was amended to provide for the extension of the 50-percent moratorium to apply to the charges becoming due for the calendar year 1937, and the creation of a commission of three members to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, and authorizing an appropriation of $50,000. The bill in its amended form was passed by the Senate on March 15. In its amended form, S. 413 is substantially the same bill as S. 1501, introduced February 15, 1937. On March 23, 1937, the chairman of the House Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation requested the Secretary of the Interior to submit his views on S. 413, and in his report of April 28 the Secretary calls attention to some of the unsatisfactory provisions of both S. 413 and H. R. 1499, advising that a substitute bill had been prepared and submitted to the chairman of the House Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, which bill was introduced on March 23, 1937, as H. R. 5853. This bill, having been carefully considered by the committee, was reported out with a recommendation that it pass with the following amendments: Line 8, page 1, after the word "Interior", strike out the words, "or landowners or water users on a United States or Indian reclamation project". Line 19, page 2, after the word "Congress", strike out language "on or before January 3, 1938" and insert "as soon as practicable". Further facts concerning the proposed legislation are set forth in the favorable report of the Secretary of the Interior under date of April 28, 1937, which report is herein below set out in full and made a part of this report, as follows: Hon. COMPTON I. WHITE, THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman, Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, MY DEAR MR. WHITE: I have received your letter of March 23 requesting my views on S. 413 as passed by the Senate March 15, providing for an extension of time for completion of the investigation of reclamation projects authorized by the act of April 14, 1936. A review of this bill leads me to believe that certain changes should be made so as to provide for a more comprehensive investigation of the financial, economic, and other conditions on the various United States and Indian reclamation projects and of their probable present and future ability to meet water-right charges. The bill provides for a commission of three members, all of whom shall be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, and one of whom shall be a landowner and water user on a United States reclamation project. I believe that if this commission is made up of members not connected with either the Bureau or Indian reclamation projects or water users or landowners on these projects, it would result in a commission better qualified to pass upon the many complicated questions which will be submitted to such a commission. This plan of the selection of a disinterested board was followed in the appointment of a committee of special advisers on reclamation, whose report was submitted to the Secretary of the Interior on April 10, 1924. Such an arrangement would give full opportunity for the water users to present a complete statement of facts and figures covering the agricultural and economic conditions on the projects which would be reviewed by an impartial board not directly connected with any of these projects and consequently in a better position to pass judgment thereon. Section 3 of the bill provides for an extension of 1 year of the provisions of the act of April 14, 1936, which grants a 50-percent moratorium on all construction charges becoming due in 1937. The Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902, provided that money expended in the construction of irrigation projects was to be repaid by the water users and used as a revolving fund for the construction of other projects. At the end of the fiscal year 1936 there had been expended approximately $245,000,000, of which $45,400,000 had been repaid by the water users. The revolving feature of the fund has been seriously retarded and there are projects where water has been available for 29 years and only six annual construction installments have been paid. There has often been organized resistance to the repayment of these charges, which is still being continued, and this notwithstanding the fact that nearly all of the projects have just passed through a successful year and in some cases the most successful year in their entire history. Several of the projects now have sufficient money on deposit with the Bureau of Reclamation to pay the next construction installment that will become due and there are other cases where projects have sufficient money in their treasury and are ready and willing to meet the next payment. On several of the projects power revenues and receipts received from land leases are sufficient to pay in whole or in part the construction charges. The principal source of revenue coming into the reclamation fund will be the repayments made by the water users. If these are reduced through further moratoria, it will make it impossible to extend a helping hand to the many areas where urgent appeals are being made to have limited water supplies conserved in storage reservoirs so that successful agriculture can be carried on. There is no justification for granting even a 50-percent moratorium to all projects, for the season of 1937. There are a few projects where some doubt exists as to the ability of the water users to pay the charges which become due under existing repayment contracts and for this reason special consideration should be given to such cases. These are problems that can be solved. For the purpose of carrying out the various provisions of this program, H. R. 5853 was introduced on March 23. This bill provides, first, for the creation of a commission of three to be selected from qualified persons outside the Department of the Interior and the Federal reclamation projects with authority to investigate the conditions on the United States and Indian irrigation projects and submit a report to Congress providing for a method for determining the amount of annual construction payments, and second, where found warranted, to recommend relief in the matter of payment of construction charges for the calendar year 1937 in lieu of a further extension of the moratorium to all projects, as proposed in S. 413. In view of the uncertainty as to the length of time that may be required to make the investigation and complete the report, the words in lines 19 and 20 on page 2 of H. R. 5853, reading, "on or before January 3, 1938" should be amended to read, "as soon as practicable". This report has been submitted to the Acting Director of the Bureau of the Budget, who advises that S. 413, as passed by the Senate, would not be in accord with the program of the President. However, the Budget advises that the bill would not be in conflict therewith if section 3 were eliminated completely or if it were replaced by section 3 of my proposed substitute for S. 413, which has been introduced as H. R. 5853. Sincerely yours, CHARLES WEST, Acting Secretary of the Interior. H. Repts., 75-1, vol. 2-61 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE INAUGURATION OF GEORGE WASHINGTON AS FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 15, 1937.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. BLOOM, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. J. Res. 366] The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the resolution (H. J. Res. 366) providing for the participation and completion of plans for a comprehensive observance of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the inauguration of George Washington as first President of the United States and authorizing the President to invite foreign countries to participate therein, having considered the same, submit the following report thereon with the recommendation that it do pass with the following amendment: Page 2, strike out all of section 3, lines 12, 13, 14, and 15, and insert a new section to read as follows: SEC. 3. The Commission shall select a Chairman, and the President is authorized to appoint a director general, who shall not be deemed an officer of the Government. The director general shall appoint, with the approval of the Commission, such assistants and subordinates as he deems necessary. For the information of the House there is made a part of this report a letter from the Secretary of State, dated June 15, 1937, together with a letter from the Attorney General to the Acting Director, Bureau of the Budget, dated June 14, 1937, which are as follows: The Honorable SAM D. McREYNOLDS, House of Representatives. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, MY DEAR MR. MCREYNOLDS: The receipt is acknowledged of a letter dated May 25, 1937, from Mr. Barnes, the clerk of your committee, requesting a report on House Joint Resolution 366, providing for the preparation and completion of plans for a comprehensive observance of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the inauguration of George Washington as first President of the United |