[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.

[[Page H3494]]

  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

[[Page H3495]]

Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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