A resolution commemorating 50 years of adjudication under the McCarran Amendment of rights to the use of water.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on October 15, 2003, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct a markup of S. 811, the ``American Dream Downpayment Act'', of S. 300, the ``Jackie Robinson Congressional Gold Medal bill.'' The committee will also vote on the nominations of Mr. Harvey S. Rosen, of New Jersey, and Ms. Kristin J. Forbes, of Massachusetts, to be members of the Council of Economic Advisors; Ms. Julie L. Myers, of Kansas, to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement; and Mr. Peter Lichtenbaum, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration.

Following the votes, the Subcommittee on Securities and Investment will meet in open session to conduct a hearing on ``The Future of the Securities Markets.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet on Wednesday, October 15, at 9:30 to conduct a business meeting to consider legislation S. 1643, S. 1066, S. 1663, and S. 1669, and the nomination of Michael O. Leavitt, to be Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The meeting will take place in SD 406, hearing room.

committee on finance

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Wednesday, October 15, 2003, at 10 a.m., to hear testimony on ``Company Owned Life Insurance.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, October 15, 2003, at 2 p.m. to hold a hearing on The Middle East Road Map: Overcoming Obstacles to Peace.

THE PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

committee on indian affairs

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, October 15, 2003, at 10 a.m. in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a Hearing on S. 550, the American Indian Probate Reform Act of 2003.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a Judicial Nominations hearing on Wednesday, October 15, 2003, at 10:00 a.m. in the Dirksen Office Building room 226.

Agenda

Panel I: Senators.

Panel II: D. Michael Fisher to be United States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit.

Panel III: Dale S. Fisher to be United States District Judge for the Central District of California; Gary L. Sharpe to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of New York.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on Wednesday, October 15, 2003, at 2:00 p.m. on ``Indecent Exposure: Oversight of DOJ's Efforts to Protect Pornography's Victims,'' in the Dirksen Senate Office Building room 226.

Witness List

Panel 1: Mr. John Malcolm, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice, Washington D.C., Mr. J. Robert Flores, Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Department of Justice, Washington D.C.; Mr. Lawrence E. Maxwell, Inspector in Charge, Fraud and Dangerous Mail Investigations, United States Postal Inspectors, Washington D.C.; Honorable Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. Attorney

for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA.

Panel 2: Mr. Bruce A. Taylor, President and Chief Counsel, National Law Center for Children and Families, Fairfax, VA; Mr. Victor Cline, Emeritus Professor, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Mr. Steve Takeshita, Officer in Charge, Pornography Unit, Organized Crime and Vice Division, Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles, CA.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, October 15, at 2:30 p.m.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on S. 943, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into one or more contracts with the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the storage of water in the Kendrick project; S. 1027 and H.R. 2040, bills to amend the Irrigation Project Contract Extension Act of 1998 to extend certain contracts between the Bureau of Reclamation and certain irrigation water contractors in the States of Wyoming and Nebraska; S. 1058, a bill to provide a cost-sharing requirement for the construction of the Arkansas Valley Conduit in the State of Colorado; S. 1071, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation, to conduct a feasibility study on a water conservation project within the Arch Hurley Conservancy District in the State of New Mexico, and for other purposes; S. 1307, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to assist in the implementation of fish passage and screening facilities at non Federal water projects, and for other purposes; S. 1308, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to pursue and complete actions related to the implementation of a U.S. District of a U.S. district court consent decree; S. 1355, a bill to authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to participate in the rehabilitation of the Wallowa Lake Dam in Oregon, and for other purposes; S. 1577, a bill to extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project in the State of Wyoming; H.R. 1284, a bill to amend the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 to increase the Federal share of the costs of the San Gabriel Basin Demonstration Project; and S. Res. 183, a resolution commemorating 50 years of adjudication under the McCarran amendment of rights to the use of water.

Mr. President, I rise to submit a Resolution commemorating 50 years of adjudicating water rights under the McCarran Amendment and commending Western States' management of water.

Rather than simply go into the Resolution itself, I would like to put the Amendment in its proper historical context.

Unlike the Eastern United States, the history of the West, its settlement, and even its founding, is closely linked to the Federal Government. We should remember that Lewis and Clark and so many other courageous explorers who mapped the Western territories were funded by the United States government. We should also be mindful that much of what we know as the West was purchased or otherwise acquired by the United States Government including the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

However, just because the Federal Government might have acquired the Western territories didn't mean that people wanted to move there. The West was a rough place, harsh land and harsher winters were enough to keep most folks back East. Again, the United States took action to promote Westward expansion by implementing laws like the Homestead Act to encourage people to relocate.

Eventually, the dream of discovering gold and mining precious metals was the catalyst that got people moving West, and eventual completion of the trans-continental railroad provided the means. Each Western territory developed into a distinct State, based on the makeup of its constituents, diverse as the Mormons of Utah to the Spanish and Mexican-Americans of New Mexico and to the Great Plains Indians and other Tribes.

No matter the reason why people moved West, they all needed water as precious and scarce a resource then as it is today. New industries and cities to sprout up that needed water to survive and a way to manage it.

Water law out West is as distinct from the East as are the histories of the two great regions of our Nation. In the West, water is a rare commodity, and is therefore regarded as a property right under the law sold apart from the land.

Since water was such a scarce resource, each State managed water based on its particular resources, geography, population, and municipal and industrial needs. Yet, Western States all recognized and favored water adjudication systems according to the doctrines of prior appropriation and beneficial use.

State management of water worked rather smoothly for decades. Then after World War II, during the new Deal's expansive programs, the Federal government sought to realign and trump the established States' interest in water to some degree. On one hand, the Federal Government believed it to be acting in its own interest since Uncle Sam owned much of the West. The United States still owns thirty-seven percent of my State of Colorado.

The United States rode roughshod over State interests, often completely ignoring private property rights and resisting cooperative agreements to manage water. The States fought Federal arm twisting as best as they could, but couldn't do much against the U.S. as sovereign. The Federal bullying got so bad that in 1951, a Readers Digest article criticized the U.S.'s strong arm tactics in the famous Santa Margarita water conflict stating that, ``the lack of moral sensitivity in our Government has put into jeopardy thousands of our small landowners; their property, homes, savings and their future.''

Thankfully, Senator Patrick McCarran of Nevada along with other likeminded Senators, successfully defended States' interests and got a very simply provision passed into law. In short, the law that we are celebrating today waives the United States' sovereign immunity so that it could be joined in general state adjudications of rights to use water.

Although a simple concept, the McCarran Amendment effectively leveled the playing field, requiring Uncle Sam to work within the State system he implicitly helped to establish.

The breadth of the McCarran Amendment has been defined by U.S. Supreme Court cases. The Court concluded that although the amendment itself might be short in length, its effect war far reaching. The High Court stated that McCarran was ``an all inclusive statute concerning the adjudication of `the rights to the use of water of a river system' '' which ``has no exceptions'' and ``includes appropriat[ive] rights, riparian rights, and reserved rights.''

It is undeniable that the history of the West is linked to the Federal Government. Since the Federal Government maintains vast landholdings, the future of the West will also be linked to Uncle Sam. Similarly, the management of property and natural resources, of which water is both, has been and shall remain a State function.

The purpose of the McCarran Amendment was to prevent federal bullying of private and state interests in managing water, and to recognize water as a State resource. McCarran encourages the Federal Government to work together with the States.

I am submitting this resolution today at a time when much of the West is still under or will likely experience severe drought conditions. The Federal Government must remember the history of the McCarran amendment and look to the States in adjudicating water.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The hearing will be held on Wednesday, October 15, at 2:30 p.m. in Room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on S. 943, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter into one or more contracts with the city of Cheyenne, WY, for the storage of water in the Kendrick Project; S. 1027 and H.R. 2040, bills to amend the Irrigation Project Contract Extension Act of 1998 to extend certain contracts between the Bureau of Reclamation and certain irrigation water contractors in the States of Wyoming and Nebraska; S. 1058, a bill to provide a cost-sharing requirement for the construction of the Arkansas Valley Conduit in the State of Colorado; S. 1071, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation, to conduct a feasibility study on a water conservation project within the Arch Hurley Conservancy District in the State of New Mexico, and for other purposes; S. 1307, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to assist in the implementation of fish passage and screening facilities at non-Federal water projects, and for other purposes; S. 1308, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to pursue and complete actions related to the implementation of a U.S. District of a U.S. District Court consent Decree; S. 1355, a bill to authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to participate in the rehabilitation of the Wallowa Lake Dam in Oregon, and for other purposes; S. 1577, a bill to extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project in the State of Wyoming; H.R. 1284, a bill to amend the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 to increase the Federal share of the costs of the San Gabriel Basin demonstration project; and S. Res. 183, a resolution commemorating 50 years of adjudication under the McCarran Amendment of rights to the use of water. Contact: Shelly Randel 202-224-7933, Kellie Donnely, 202-224- 9360, Erik Webb 202-224-4756 or Meghan Beal at 202-224-7556.

Because of the limited time available for the hearings, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record should send two copies of their testimony to the Subcommittee on Water and Power, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510- 6150.

committee on indian affairs

Mr. President, I would like to announce that the Committee on Indian Affairs will meet on Wednesday, October 15, 2003, at 10 a.m. in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office building to conduct a hearing on S. 550, the American Indian Probate Reform Act of 2003.

Those wishing additional information may contact the Indian Affairs committee at 224-2251.

subcommittee on water and power

Mr. President, I would like to announce that the Committee on Indian Affairs will meet on Thursday, October 16, 2003 at 10 a.m. in Room 485 of the Russell Senate Office building to conduct an Oversight Hearing on the Missouri River Master Manual.

Those wishing additional information may contact the Indian Affairs Committee at 224-2251.