<--PREV Doc #1045  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1047 Document #1046; September 3, 1954 To Everett McKinley Dirksen Series: EM, AWF, DDE Diaries Series The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XV - The Presidency: The Middle Way Part VI: Crises Abroad, Party Problems at Home; September 1954 to December 1954 Chapter 132: Asia: A "boiling kettle of possible trouble"   I have today withheld approval of HR-3300.1 There are currently underway thorough studies of the entire project. If these studies substantiate the arguments of those who contend that the diversion is necessary for sanitary and other reasons, and at the same time can show that no material damage will be suffered by others who are directly affected by the level of water in Lake Michigan and the outflow along the St. Lawrence, it would appear that new legislation conforming to those studies could be drawn up and enacted. In view of the conditions you have personally presented to me as to the great need for water along the Illinois River, I regret having to take this action, but I believe that on balance my disapproval is practically compulsory at this moment.2 With personal regard 1 For background on the legislation to increase the flow of Lake Michigan water through the Illinois River see no. 1042. 2 The President had maintained in his veto message that the diversions in effect since 1938 were adequate for navigation and that all methods of lake level control should be studied before authorizing new procedures. Because Canada and the American states bordering the Great Lakes had objected to the bad effects of lower lake levels, Eisenhower decided to delay the decision. "The diversion of waters into and out of the Great Lakes has historically been the subject of negotiations with Canada," Eisenhower said. "To proceed unilaterally in the manner proposed . . . is not wise policy" (Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1954, pp. 829-31; see also Telephone conversation, Eisenhower and Dirksen, Sept. 2, 1954, AWF/D). The House of Representatives would pass by voice vote a similar bill in July 1955. The Senate, however, would not act on the legislation (Congressional Quarterly Almanac, vol. XI, 1955, pp. 480-81). In 1956 Eisenhower would again veto a waterway bill, saying that it would be unwise to authorize the project before the Army Corps of Engineers had completed its report and that Canada and the states of Wisconsin, Ohio, and New York had objected to the legislation (Congressional Quarterly Almanac, vol. XII, 1956, p. 570; see also Public Papers of the Presidents: Eisenhower, 1956, pp. 676-77). Bibliographic reference to this document: Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Everett McKinley Dirksen, 3 September 1954. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 1046. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/1046.cfm <--PREV Doc #1045  |  Memorial Commission Home Page  |  First Term Table of Contents  |  Presidential Papers Home Page  |  Doc#  |  NEXT--> Doc #1047

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