Herb Kohl: “this water resources bill includes many provisions of great importance. Perhaps none of the provisions is more important…”

“this water resources bill includes many provisions of great importance. Perhaps none of the provisions is more important to the State of Wisconsin than the transfer of land in the Kickapoo River Valley from the Corps of Engineers to the State of Wisconsin, for the purpose of creating the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. We in the Senate spend a great deal of time arguing about the appropriate role of the Federal Government. I know that my colleagues of all ideological stripes can list specific instances in which Federal intervention has caused undue pain and suffering to individuals or communities. Today with this bill, and the Kickapoo Valley, WI, provision included therein, we have begun the process of rectifying a wrong that was done the people of Southwestern Wisconsin 3 decades ago. In the mid 1960s, Congress authorized the Corps of Engineers to build a flood control dam on the Kickapoo River at LaFarge in Vernon County, WI. In order to proceed with the project, the Corp of Engineers condemned 140 farms covering an area of about 8,500 acres. To LaFarge, a community of only 840 people, the loss of these farms dealt a significant economic and emotional blow.”