Theodore
years, that he had unusual competence, and that he had worked not just for the
Corps but for the Department of Agriculture. So he agreed that I could hire
Howard Cook.
So we went to the first formal meeting of the commission, just Howard and I,
with a list of over a hundred possible study areas. We made up the list based
on our knowledge of all the different questions that were still left after all the
other studies had been done. When you get right down to it, most of the
previous water studies had not really resolved any questions; they had more
usually posed more questions or different questions.
Let me inject a question right here. When you developed these potential study
areas, did you go to staff members in the House and Senate and ask for some
input from either the political, that is the elected officials, on the Hill or the
staff members about what was their intention?
A: Not at that time. For one thing it was abundantly clear from the legislative
history of the act what we were supposed to do. I wanted to have a meeting
with the commission first. I hardly even know the other members of the
commission, except for Ray Linsley and Frank Diluzio. I had met Russ Train
once or twice, and I knew Sam Baxter from having served on a committee with
him when he was president of the American Society of Engineers. But I didn't
know Mike Wright, and I didn't really know Clyde Ellis although I had heard
him speak.
So, I wanted to get their views before I got anybody else's because I wanted
it to be their show. The first meeting was held at the Metropolitan Club over
a lunch which shocked me because the food wasn't very good. We had
given the commissioners the list of studies in advance, and we asked for
guidance as to which areas they thought should be the subject of study.
My whole approach backfired when the commissioners immediately turned the
question back and told us that we were the experts and they expected us to tell
them what they should study. But at that first meeting, Chuck said that the one
essential thing was that we have at least one study underway and a plan of
studies approved by the time he went up to testify before the Appropriations
Committee for the next year's appropriations, which was set for some time in
March. This was in mid-January, so we had only two months to come up with
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