Dusty Johnson: “I commend and applaud the work of Senator Carnahan and Senator Bond on crafting this amendment. We have been at a…”

“I commend and applaud the work of Senator Carnahan and Senator Bond on crafting this amendment. We have been at a gridlock state on the master manual development now for many years. Senator Carnahan's work to try to break that gridlock ought to be applauded. Last year, as many recall, this bill wound up being vetoed by President Clinton over this very issue. For years it has been an all-or-nothing struggle between upstream and downstream States over the management of the Missouri River. I think we may be moving ahead more constructively now, thanks to a more thoughtful approach being taken in this body. The Missouri River is of utterly profound consequences to my home State of South Dakota. It divides the State in two, an East River and West River, as we say in South Dakota. It is central to the economy of the State. It is the corridor by which settlers came to Dakota territory. This Senator grew up on the Missouri River. My hometown is a college town situated on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River. Its welfare is of great concern to my State. It is of great concern to me personally.”