Water Resources People and Issues
Iowa. But otherwise, it was all Western, but that's where the primary interest
in water is in this country.
How about the Southeast, we've built a lot of projects there?
A: No. Nobody from the Southeast. And we had two from California, two from
New Mexico, and two from Washington state, so it was not well balanced
geographically. Anyway, I accepted the position but remained on the Library's
payroll and I didn't have any commitment to support any particular policies or
anything like that. My role at the Library was to serve members and
committees of the Congress, particularly the Public Works and the Interior
Committees of both Houses and their members, so it was quite natural for me
to take on the responsibility.
The director of the Legislative Reference Service, Ernest Griffith, didn't want
me to go because he said he needed me, but didn't stand in my way because by
taking the position I was, in effect, serving the committees which I was
responsible for serving.
So I went over to work in what was then called the New Senate Office
Building, the first occupant of Room 3206 still on the Library's payroll, but the
Library was reimbursed by the committee. The Library was very particular
about that, and I think even when I traveled for the committee, the Library had
to buy my tickets and the committee had to reimburse. The Library was very
particular about any staff member not receiving any outside compensation, even
from another government agency.
I started to work for the Senate Select Committee about May 1959 and I found
that Clint Anderson had already taken a leading role in the planning for the
committee's work. He had been in touch with Ed Ackerman, the Ed Ackerman
who had been at the Bureau of the Budget. I don't know whether this is a fact
or not, but I believe that if Ed Ackerman had been willing to take the position
of staff director, Clint Anderson might have accepted the chairmanship. But Ed
Ackerman had been appointed as executive officer of the Carnegie Institution,
which is a very prestigious position; he couldn't be expected to consider going
to work on the Hill. I have a feeling that that's another reason that Senator Kerr
was made the chairman of the committee.
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