[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 15, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1639-E1640]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE LIFE OF SIDNEY LANIER McFARLAND

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 15, 2004

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
distinguish life of Sidney Lanier McFarland. Mr. McFarland, who retired 
in 1975 after 36 years honorable public service, passed away on August 
12, 2004, at the age of 89.
  Mr. McFarland served for 20 years as Staff Director for the U.S. 
House of Representatives Interior Committee from the 83rd through the 
93rd Congresses. During that time, he coordinated the efforts that 
authorized and enacted 79 major water projects into law. These laws 
authorized the U.S. Department of the Interior to build dams and canals 
that stored and diverted water for use by agriculture, municipalities 
and industry. The projects made possible the large and productive 
habitation of arid and semiarid lands, laying the groundwork for the 
enormous growth that subsequently transpired in the western United 
States. Among the committee's accomplishments under Mr. McFarland's 
direction were the Colorado River Storage Project that included Glen 
Canyon Dam and Lake Powell; the Trinity River

[[Page E1640]]

Project Unit, San Luis Project Unit and Auburn-Folsom South Unit of the 
Central Valley Project in California; the Fryington-Arkansas Project in 
Colorado; the Garrison Unit of the Missouri River Basin Project in 
North Dakota; and the Colorado River Basin Project, which includes the 
Central Arizona Project.
  Mr. McFarland also worked on 169 other pieces of legislation enacted 
into law. These included amendments to federal reclamation laws, 
compacts on interstate streams, authorization of the Saline Water 
Research Program, the Small Reclamation Projects Act, the Water 
Resources Planning Act, the Water Resources Research Act, and 
legislation relating to irrigation districts.
  Mr. McFarland was born on March 25, 1915, in Georgia and grew up 
working on his family's farm. After earning a civil engineering degree 
at Georgia Tech, he worked for the Georgia State Highway Department 
before being called to active duty with the U.S. Army in 1941. He 
proudly served his country during World War II and many years after in 
the Officer Reserve Corps.
  Mr. McFarland's military service is one of great honor and 
distinction. He was a member of the 551st Engineer Heavy Pontoon 
Battalion, initially assigned to General George Patton's Third Army. 
Under fire during Patton's rapid push across France into Germany, Mr. 
McFarland and his fellow soldiers courageously built several heavy 
pontoon bridges. In December 1944, the battalion was caught in the 
Battle of the Bulge, at which time the German army, holding everything 
east of the Rhine River, made a rapid breakthrough in an attempt to 
capture Antwerp. During the night of March 25, 1945, and part of the 
following day, Mr. McFarland's battalion completed the construction of 
a 1900-foot pontoon bridge across the swift-moving Rhine River, making 
it possible for the Allied Armies to cross and initiate the big push to 
end the war. As noted by Major General Inglis, Chief Engineer of the 
21st Army Group, the Rhine River crossing was ``. . . one of the great 
military accomplishments of this war.''
  Mr. McFarland, who was buried with military honors at Arlington 
National Cemetery, is survived by his loving wife of 63 years, Barbara, 
of Sun City West, Arizona; daughter Margie and her husband Robert 
Collins of Albuquerque, New Mexico; daughter Carol and her husband Bob 
Leone of Edgecomb, Maine; son Sid, Jr., of Dayton, Ohio; and son 
Christopher and his wife Lauren of Austin, Texas. He also has five 
grandchildren: Jennifer Collins, Lindsay and Sara Leone, and Renan and 
Shea McFarland.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in paying final tribute to a great 
American.

                          ____________________