William Helms: “for some time I have felt inclined to discuss in the Senate a matter for the Record and of importance to the people…”

“for some time I have felt inclined to discuss in the Senate a matter for the Record and of importance to the people living in the far western counties of North Carolina and in the beautiful mountains adjacent to the Tennessee border. The matter involved is the federal government's finally fulfilling after a fashion a commitment made in 1943 in writing by the U.S. Government to the citizens of Swain County. The federal government proposed to build a road along the north shore of Fontana Lake which was created in World War II to provide power to the TVA. This written commitment was made to citizens who voluntarily gave up their homes to support the U.S.'s World War II defense efforts. The federal government has not yet fulfilled its commitment, and that has caused a great deal of resentment and mistrust of the government among the citizens of Swain County and other surrounding counties on the North Carolina side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These citizens understandably believe that the federal government should now live up to its written commitment made during World War II because these people gave up their homes in order that Fontana Lake could be built so that power could be generated by TVA. But, there has been a curious development. A small group of citizens in Swain County now proposes to ask that the federal government buy them out, thereby voiding that federal government commitment made in 1943.”