DESERElNEWS. SAlT.LAKE·ciTY. UTAH WED.N ESDA--Y, JULY 31, 1974 A 5
We stand for the Constitution 01 the United States :';";th its three departments of
government, . each fully independent in its own lield.
The law on lobbying is
m'ore loophole than law
Remember the controversy over the The House clerk and Senate secretary
Alaska pipeline and the intense lobbying have no authority to make sure that lobby
campaign which accompanied that strug-. spending reports ' are actually filed with
gle? them as· required by law; let alone to .
'Despite all the lobbying in and out of. make sure the reports they do receive are
Congress, neither the environmental urn- . complete and accurate.
brella group opposing the pipeline nor the The public servant often has an advanoil
consortium fighting for the project tage over the private citizen when -it
submitted spending record.s to the clerk of comes to , influencing the nation's
the U.S. House of Representatives. lawmakers .. That's because little is done
That report this week from Congres- to enforce compliance wjth the ban
'sional Quarterly is symptomatic of the against go~ernrnent agents and bureaus
defects ~ the 28-year-old Federal Regula- lobbying Congress. ." "
tion' g A f oJ'eOVer, lobbying groups an .. l'ltllelKl-tance
of plugging its loopholes. large sums' to generate mail to congress-
Because tpe law never defines lobbying . men from their · constituents without
clearly and preCisely, it's difficult to de- disclosing 'either the practice or its costs.
termine who should register as a lobbyist . Writing a realistic lobbying law to rem-and
who shouldn't. edy these defects is no easy matter. Too
much regulation and red tape can infringe
- Some organization'S claim they are not on the constitutional right of free speecl}.
subject to the lobbying law because their and dampen the flow of, ideas between the
direct dealings with Congress are merely
"informational." public and its elected representatives.
Other orga ons on De ~ying
reports with the clerk of the House and
the secretary of the Senate on tb.e basis
of 'a cQurt · decision that groups are
exempt if influencing Congress is not
their " principal purpose." A more reasonable
standard would be "substantial
purpose."
The Alaska Public Interest Coalition,
the environmental umbrella group which
'opposed the Alaska pipeline, got away
with not filing a spending report on the
grounds it was not an "official,
incorporated" org,anization .
and enforced that it's often hard to ' teU
whether a group's ability to influence leg- .
islation is based on the merits of its arguments
- or' on the amount of money it
spends and the lengths to which it is willing
to go to curry favor.
Among those pressing for a more stringent
federal lobby disclosure law is
Common Cause, which . itseir files
exceptionally precise and thorough l~bbying
reports . . Since this citizens group can
make comprehensive disclosure without
impairing its ability to petition Congress,
- so can oth.er lobbyists.
. Water vs. the energy shortage
When the ' National Governors Confer· through the year 2000 were reassuring,
ence was held last. month in Seattle. one they were conditioned with several "if ."
of the subjects that do in ed tIl " nier IS ttiii'f Colorado lli~r projects
. ence waS'mtergy. now autlibriZed be finished on schedule.
That theme is being repeated in the But if fund impoundments 'and the low
Western Governors Conference being held rate of Junding for ~he Central Utah p~'this
week in Albtfquerque, N.M. That's eet is any indication, that goal may be 'only
natural, since the states ultimately flcult to meet Certairily a greater awa -
must be the cornerstone in helping "to ness of the problem is necessary if all the
solve the energy shortage. . contemplated storage projects are to be
But at almost every step, the increase - finished. ,_ . . .'
in energy production is directly related to Horton s proJectlons also . mclu~e,
water resources - another subject close among other step~! ~he use of ram-makmg
to the heart of. the Western Governors to. add one-half million acre feet per year
Conference. And how well the West plans in the Colorado River B.asil) area.
for water may determine in the long run That may ~ gr~ pmg at straws. The
how effecti--e is its contribution to solvina art of ram-making 15 not yet so advanced
the energy ~rtSiS 0 that ~ .safe projection can be made. And
., ~ ' . . certainly its legal mmific'ations are '
1hat IS bec~use almost , ever step Ul enough to cloud any optimistic forecast of
~nergy productIOn dell!an~ water. Atom- how successful it may be. What would
IC energy pl~!lts requite It . ~o cool rea - happen in the way of lawsuits, for intors.
Shale o~ recovery requites wate~ to stance, if the Midwest were hit by ~
. cool processmg plants. , ,Even coal-fired drouth as the result of cloud-seeding in
plants demand large amounts of water for the Rockv Mountain area?
steam generation. It's clear that if energy shortag~ are
So while Assistant Secretary of Interi· to be solved, water problems need a
or jack Horton's .assurances of sufficient great~r priority than they are now receiv·
water in the .Rocky Mountain states ing. · · ,
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'1ernll Express IS'
Thu~sdaY:- J~1y 18, 19?~
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cUP , "rt' ;~;",:,., :~ :', ' Reclamatior: Gilbert G; Stamm'-, development of lo~g~iange
, " ex~, ~~ ~":J:b ... ", stated tha("Mr; I?eLoog~s long , plans and reconciliation of , · ad ' t ':.' ~ E!)!:perience i,and - expertise , in , conflicts among concerned assign , ~SS .• .!",' ,:".' ~ matters is easentialatthis groups. lie will also handle
I " • ' I '~....I :;·'~' '·t': ' ".; .. ,~ritical time inthe.reg.ona Ol.tee or=.,or dev.~ 9P.fR~,ra~ ~!Datters1~Te!!lte~·~.t!a e~!s.tipB the project.'! : " ~lfc! ~~;1~ " '-' B'u:reauofReclinilti6nprole~
'-. - :- t;'~ ', ~~ DeLo <ifietall1:Tettrctt:ir;~Wi~f@e'«iOti~ (t ' .
, Palmer B. DeLong; ,:'8', year ag~ after serving over~6'" ~', "~ ' . ~>' .. ' • , \
specialist in t~e complex:: years ali Central Utah Projects , '
Central Utah ProjE1ct, has been Manager:; 6,1t has continued ,
assigned the ' position of working on problems regarding
assistant regional director for ' this project and other activities
the Upper Colorado Region of ' in Utah. .
the Bureau of Reclamatioo with "' In his new positioo, DeLong
a large part of his ~i11 continue working with
responsibi1it~ being to ac· ', special problems <i the Centr8I
complish critical work on the Utah Project" including
project. '". , . ' "', ' contacts with Ute indian Tribal ~
, -' '< , ' .. -'~ interests, 'liaison with water 'l
IN MAKING. the announ- ' User organizations and' ,with .
, cement ~ Commission of environmental gr9u'p,~' , and'
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I . Palmer B. DeLong,'a special-r
Ast in 'the comp.ex Central Utab , , ;- . -. <- I ',-;'~r::-:-:-~
I Pro;ect ', has been assi~e(t the 1 ~' " " ,.. 0'" ~' ' ,. " - :- ,
[
I >Positio~ of Assistan~ Regional f I In his new' ~siUo~,i>eLong '
Director for the Upper Colorado ' will , continue ' worJtin'g , witlI
Region ~Iof : t he , Bureau ': ofspe~ial prciblerJ,ls ,oftheCentral
Reclamation with a large .part of -Utah Project, including 'contacts
'~!t,i~" r~se.ol!~i!>U,it~,; ~~inJ' ; •• t9 _: j 'itp l)te ~ndi.i!n Tribal interests,
.:.:.accOrnp1ish .ciitical work on 'the - liaisoJi~wiUi water user organiz-
\
proJ ect .:" ' In making . the ations 'and 'witIleiivironmenta,1
. announcement; Commission of groups;' '_ and' ' develQpment ,of I Reclamatio? Gilbert ,G. ~tamm ' ~o~g-~arige ' pla~s arid: reconcil-
I, stated that Mr, Delong s 'ong ' .tatton of conflicts aIllong 'con,.
experience and expe'rtise ' in , cerned ' gr~ups. , He will also I
CUP matters is essential at this handle matters ' related ,'to]
critical time in the development ' eXisting. Bureau' of Reclamation I
of the project." ,', , ' prcijectsj
• withing ' the State' of
\
' ' Delong officially retired a , ,UtaQ . .- / , "_ : ! , .- , ', ,. , .-
year ago after. serving over. ten . " ~ 'We are fQrtunate to have 8:,.
I, years as Central Utah ProJect~ man of Mr. DeLong's' calibet: .
I Manager but has cont,inued and experience ' availa'ble to
I 'working ~n problems ,regarding ~ork ' on 'the 'complex Central
this project and other activitie~ ,' Uta,h Project problems" Conim-in
Utah. , .... -..,.";1' " ,'!,- -,"', ' issiorier 'Stainm stated. ~'· ',:,: ~,~
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