[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 83 (Monday, May 21, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1101-E1102]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    TRIBUTE TO THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS KANSAS CITY DISTRICT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 21, 2007

  Mr. SKELTON. Madam Speaker, the United States Army Corps of Engineers 
Kansas City District is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2007. Over 
the last century, the people who make up the Kansas City District have 
provided meaningful services to the people of Missouri and of our 
nation.
  In the early days, the Kansas City District's primary mission was to 
develop and maintain a navigational channel along the Missouri River to 
encourage barge traffic. Barge traffic remains a vital concern along 
the river. Since the early 1900's, barges have been critical to moving 
farm products to markets and to control railroad freight rates via 
competition along the river. This commitment to navigation has always 
been so very important to those of us who hail from Missouri.
  The Kansas City District has also played an important role in taming 
the turbulent and braided Missouri River. The men and women of the 
District have built numerous river control structures that have 
stabilized banks and used the force of the river's own current to carve 
a stable channel. They have constructed canals and river cutoffs that 
changed the course of the river. At the same time, they have offered 
easier navigation, opening the stream to, use, as a highway for goods.
  In the 1930s and 1940s, the Kansas City District tackled flood 
control concerns and helped protect property and lives along the river 
and its tributaries. Because of flooding and the federal government's 
commitment to employ Army engineer officers returning from battle in 
World War II, dams were constructed along the main stem of the river 
and on adjacent streams. The Flood Control Act of 1944

[[Page E1102]]

shaped the development of the entire Missouri River Valley region and 
transformed the landscape of America's heartland. The legislation 
authorized hundreds of dam and levy projects and established 
substantial changes in federal policy with regard to the management of 
the Missouri River. The Kansas City District played a key role in this 
national effort.
  In addition to its responsibilities along the Missouri River, the 
Kansas City District operates eighteen lakes across Missouri, Kansas, 
Iowa, and Nebraska. It also provides additional services to the nation, 
both inside and outside its own physical boundaries. Recently, the 
District has supported the United States Army by overseeing the 
construction of facilities for the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, 
KS, and of the new Lewis and Clark Classroom Facility for the Army's 
Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS.
  Madam Speaker, I know the members of the House will join me in 
congratulating the people who have worked to make the United States 
Army Corps of Engineers Kansas City District a successful organization 
and will join me in sending thanks to them on their 100th anniversary.

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