John
Morris
Frankly, if you read the memorandum and knew nothing about my discussions with Congress,
you'd come to the same conclusion.
Shortly after the case was settled in court, I got a call from Senator Stennis stating he felt the
Senate's Public Works Committee was all over the Corps about withholding information. So
I had to go to a special hearing. The chairman was Senator [Daniel Patrick] Moynihan of New
York. His members were Senator [Alan] Simpson from Wyoming and Senator [Pete]
Domenici, from New Mexico. Domenici was, to me, the most formidable person because of
his deep knowledge of the money situation. He was really the money person. Senator Stennis
excused himself from the hearings. I had gone over there with two or three people, and I had
all the usual backup books for a hearing. I never opened a book. I did not have to because,
having just gone through the trial, I was really pumped up with information.
Well, they grilled me for about two hours, and the staffers kept feeding questions up to
Moynihan and Domenici which I'd answer promptly. I told them about coming over
personally, et cetera. Finally, Domenici apparently said, "That's enough," and they knocked
it off, but it was a grilling. Senator Moynihan was very complimentary afterwards. He told me
that he was pleased with the hearing, and he thought that we'd done nothing wrong. As far as
he was concerned, he wouldn't question the integrity of the Corps, as long as I was Chief.
That was nice.
So we took all our books and went home.
Tennessee-Tombigbee was ultimately finished and I went to the dedication. Don Walden, the
Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Association manager, had been very active through all of
these years of political pressure and development. It was quite a celebration. I was happy to
see that the court performance was recognized and that the Corps was given a reasonable
amount of credit for the whole thing.
The Tennessee-Tombigbee will always be considered a real test. Interestingly enough, I think
the Corps has become more successful in dealing with the environment and the opposition
because of the Tennessee-Tombigbee. I don't mean to say that everybody got the idea the
Corps was doing right, but it was such a
really bitter-debate, that when we came out
of that one in good shape, I think it made it easier for subsequent cases or situations to be
resolved.
Q ..
What other projects
vour attention as Chief?
A
I should talk briefly about the Bonneville project because it brings up another issue. The
was one of the make-work
Bonneville project, originally built back in the 1930s or
projects under the Roosevelt Administration, as I recall. The very small town of Bonneville
grew up primarily because of the construction people. There were some natives there also. In
the course of the years that followed, this little community of Bonneville had grown into a
small, medium to lower-middle-class town. It was not a booming or even noticeably
prosperous city.
When the new power plant was approved for Bonneville, that little village had to be moved.
Getting it moved and then rebuilt turned out to be an issue of national significance.
Jack
was the district engineer there and did a tremendous job in keeping all the warring
factions at the conference table. The people of Bonneville, the new Bonneville, really did
extract out of the federal government a high price for moving to the new village. All the
public facilities for a new town and the infrastructure were government responsibility.
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