John Myers: “Mr. Chairman, the arguments used against this project have been used many times. They were used in litigation in at…”

“Mr. Chairman, the arguments used against this project have been used many times. They were used in litigation in at least two court cases that I am aware of. Mr. Bevill and I and Mr. Fazio have been on this committee for a good many years. The same arguments were used in court and it was settled several times, we thought, both legally and in litigation with the environmentalists, only to have the environmentalists find some new way to approach this. Congress heard this same argument back in 1988, when Congress passed the Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988, agreeing that we would start on this phase. This is phase 1 that we are speaking about here. It is absolutely true, the benefit-cost ratio only looked at one phase of it. The next phase the Indians will provide. The State of Colorado has already appropriated $42,600,000 to complete this, realizing their legal responsibility. It is not a matter of fact tonight whether we should consider this again. We have a number of times met the legal responsibility through court action, litigation, as well as through congressional action, the action of 1988, and agreement with the two Indian tribes, the Ute Indian Tribes. We have a legal responsibility.”