Political Quotes

“I rise today to recognize the 50th anniversary of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. In the early 1900s, the populations of Nevada, southern California, and Arizona were beginning to grow. New communities were in need of water for irrigation, electrical power, and a way to control the seasonal flooding of the mighty Colorado River. On December 21, 1928, President Calvin Coolidge signed the Boulder Canyon Project Act, which authorized funds for three dam projects along the Lower Colorado River, the largest of which became the Hoover Dam, and this monumental dam created our Nation's largest reservoir, Lake Mead. On October 8, 1964, 18 years after the completion of the Hoover Dam, the Lake Mead national recreation area was established, making it the first National Recreation Area in the country. Since its founding, Lake Mead has become essential to Southern Nevada. The reservoir supplies local communities with drinking water, provides low-cost electricity throughout the Southwest, and is a beacon for outdoor recreation, which attracts millions of dollars annually to local and regional economies. In 2013, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area visitors contributed $260 million to communities surrounding the lake, and this helped support approximately 3,000 jobs in the area. Today, Lake Mead is one of the most popular destinations in America, with more than 6 million visitors every year.…”