[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 18, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H3493-H3495]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HONORING FLOYD DOMINY
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree
to the resolution (H. Res. 1327) honoring the life, achievements, and
contributions of Floyd Dominy.
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The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 1327
Whereas Floyd Dominy, a legendary Bureau of Reclamation
Commissioner dedicated to building dams that would supply
society with necessary water and emissions-free power for
living and recreation, passed away on April 20, 2010, at the
age of 100;
Whereas Floyd Dominy was born on a farm in Hastings,
Nebraska, on December 24, 1909, and graduated from the
University of Wyoming in 1933;
Whereas Floyd Dominy acquired critical war materials,
helped resolve food shortages, and served in the U.S. Naval
Reserve during World War II;
Whereas Floyd Dominy joined the Bureau of Reclamation in
1946 as a specialist responsible for procedures by which
newly irrigated land on public land could be settled by
returning war veterans;
Whereas Floyd Dominy later served as the Associate
Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation before being sworn
in as Commissioner upon appointment by President Dwight D.
Eisenhower;
Whereas Floyd Dominy served in the same capacity under
Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard
Nixon;
Whereas upon his retirement in 1969, Floyd Dominy was and
continues to be the longest serving Bureau of Reclamation
Commissioner;
Whereas Floyd Dominy, during his tenure as the Commissioner
of the Bureau of Reclamation, played a major role in the
authorization and the construction of numerous Federal multi-
purpose dams and water projects in the western United States,
including Glen Canyon, Flaming Gorge, and Navajo Dams, the
Central Arizona Project, San Luis Unit, and the Trinity
Division of the Central Valley Project;
Whereas many of these projects that Floyd Dominy played
such a role in creating and constructing continue to be vital
to the Nation's food supply and renewable electricity
generation and attract millions of recreationalists each
year; and
Whereas Floyd Dominy was named one of the top ten ``Public
Works Men of the Year'' in 1966 and was awarded for
``Outstanding Engineering Achievement in Heavy Construction''
in 1974: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives honors the life
and accomplishments of Floyd Dominy, former Bureau of
Reclamation Commissioner, for his many contributions to the
Nation's water and food supply, recreation, and the
environment.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
California (Mrs. Napolitano) and the gentleman from California (Mr.
McClintock) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
General Leave
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their
remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 1327 was introduced by
our colleague, Representative Adrian Smith, and myself to honor the
passing of Mr. Floyd Dominy, the man who was responsible for planning,
coordinating, and building many of the Federal water projects that
exist in the entire Western United States today.
{time} 1445
House Resolution 1327 recognizes the longest-serving commissioner in
the history of the Bureau of Reclamation, serving Presidents
Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. Mr. Dominy, who, until his
death, liked to be referred to as Mr. Commissioner, rose from the
plains of Nebraska to become one of the most influential water
developers in the world.
The legacy of Mr. Floyd Dominy impacts nearly every person in the 17
Western States. Water for cities and agriculture and reservoirs for
recreation, along with hydropower from Bureau of Reclamation dams,
provided the West with the ability to grow.
The history of the West was built on the shoulders of men and women
who saw challenges as opportunities. Floyd Dominy built the Bureau of
Reclamation and its engineers into a world-class organization that
helped the West and the world develop and manage limited water
resources.
Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support the passage of House
Resolution 1327.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, this resolution honors the life, achievements and
contributions of Mr. Floyd Dominy, the longest-serving commissioner in
the history of the Bureau of Reclamation.
Our colleague, Congressman Adrian Smith, has introduced this
bipartisan resolution because Mr. Dominy was a Nebraskan, having been
born on a farm in the western part of that State. But while Mr. Dominy
hailed from Nebraska, his achievements are known worldwide.
It was that hard scrabble life of eking out a living on a dry
Nebraska farm that propelled Floyd Dominy into building the dams and
water projects that have made possible the success of American
agriculture in the western United States.
During his tenure at the Bureau of Reclamation, he played a major
role in the authorization and construction of numerous Federal multi-
purpose dams and water projects in the United States, including the
Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona, Flaming Gorge Dam in Utah, the San Luis
Unit in Central California, the Central Arizona Project and the Trinity
Division of the Central Valley Project in northern California.
To this day, these projects have created some of the most productive
farmland in the world, they have provided water to a growing population
in the arid West, and they've generated clean, renewable and emissions-
free hydropower.
His contributions to the Nation's water, power and food supply, its
recreation and its environment stand as monumental examples of how
visionaries like Mr. Dominy have made this country the beacon of
freedom and opportunity and prosperity. This resolution honors that
legacy.
But more than a legacy, it is a lesson for our Nation. Floyd Dominy
stood as a giant in an era when the central objective of our Federal
water and power policy was to provide an abundance of both. The great
dams and hydroelectric projects of that era, of which Floyd Dominy was
a driving force, produced the water and electricity that made possible
the prosperity of our Nation.
Imagine an era when water and power was so cheap that many
communities didn't even bother to measure the stuff. But in the 1970s,
a radical and retrograde ideology seeped into our water and power
policy. This ideology rejected abundance as our principal objective and
replaced it with the rationing of shortages that have been caused by
our abandoning abundance as our principal objective.
The great builders like Floyd Dominy were cast aside and forgotten,
even while we continued to rely on the great public works that they had
produced. We've now lived a generation under this ideology and the
results, chronic shortages of water and power, skyrocketing prices for
electricity, withering agriculture and declining prosperity.
Floyd Dominy is an American hero. He deserves so much more than a
resolution. But, in a sense, he has it. The great water and
hydroelectric projects that he produced stand as a monument to his
vision and foresight and dedication. And they stand as a road map for
this Nation when we finally get serious about dealing with the chronic
shortages that the current generation of policymakers has produced.
I'd urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan measure.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, indeed, Mr. Dominy was a U.S. hero, if
nothing else. He left a great legacy for the world, not just the United
States; and we're exceedingly proud. He passed away 4 months ago at the
age of 100 years old plus 4 months. My condolences to his family.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Napolitano) that the House suspend
the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 1327.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
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Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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