Providing that no further funds shall be appropriated for the further construction of the Garrison Dam until an investigation be made by a special committe of the House of Representatives

This resolution, dated April 20, 1953, begins by outlining the complaint that the US Corp of Army Engineers, acting on its own and in violation of several stipulations of the original act authorizing the construction of the Garrison Dam, has decided to increase the water pool area by 6,000,000 acre-feet and the raise the surface height of the pool by twenty feet. This has required the construction of dikes that were not part of the authorized project, and led to the acquisition of more land around the reservoir, which the Corp has been acquiring using tactics that deprive the owners of those lands of their constitutional right to due process. Given the above complaints, the resolution proposes that all appropriations for further construction of the Garrison Dam be halted until a committee appointed by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives has investigated the complaints mentioned above and presented their report before July 1, 1953. See also: Congressional Record Regarding Amendment Proposed by Representative Burdick to Reduce Appropriation to Corps of Army Engineers, May 27, 1953 Drafts of Resolution by Representative Burdick Regarding Pool Level of Garrison Dam Reservoir, Undatedhttps://commons.und.edu/indigenous-gov-docs/1217/thumbnail.jp

Excerpts from the US Congressional Record Regarding Amendments Proposed by US Senator Joseph C. O\u27Mohoney Related to the Taking of Land From the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation for the Garrison Dam Project, December 15, 1945

This document, nominally dated July 15 and including excerpts from the United States Congressional Record of December 15, 19, and 20 of 1945 and July 27 of 1947, contains transcripts of debates on two amendments proposed by Senator Joseph C. O’Mahoney of Wyoming to protect the interests of the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Forth Berthold Reservation during the taking of a significant portion of their land for the construction of the Garrison Dam and Reservoir on the Missouri River. In addition to the excerpts from the Congressional record, the document also contains, on its last page, the texts of the two amendments proposed by O’Mahoney, the first of which, passed in December, 1945, stipulates that “no part of the appropriation for the Garrison Reservoir herein contained may be expended for actual construction of the dam until suitable land found by the [US] Secretary of the Interior to be equal in quality and sufficient in area to compensate the Three Affiliated Tribes shall be offered to the said tribes in exchange for the land on the Fort Berthold Reservation, which shall be inundated by the construction of the Garrison Dam,” and the second of which, passed in July of 1947, stipulates that “notwithstanding said contract or the provisions of this Act, the said Three Affiliated Tribes may bring suit in the Court of Claims as provided in section 24 of the Act of August 13, 1946, on account of additional damages, if any, alleged to have been sustained by said tribes by reason of the taking of the said lands and rights in the said Fort Berthold Indian Reservation on account of any treaty obligation of the Government or any intangible cost of reestablishment or relocation, for which the said tribes are not compensated by the said $5,105,625.” See also: An Act Making Appropriations to Supply Deficiencies in Certain Appropriations for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1946, and for Prior Fiscal Years, to Provide Supplemental Appropriations for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1946, and for Other Purposes Resolution by Tribal Council of Three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold, North Dakota Regarding O\u27 Mahoney Amendment, January 10, 1946 War Department Civil Appropriation Bill, 1948https://commons.und.edu/burdick-papers/1438/thumbnail.jp

An Act to expedite the construction of public buildings and works outside of the district of Columbia by enabling possession and title of sites to be taken in advance of final judgment in proceedings for the acquisition thereof under the power of eminent domain

This act, dated February 26, 1931, also known as United States (US) Public Law 71-736, sets out the conditions under which the United States may take possession and title of a property for public use before a final judgment has been rendered in a proceeding in which the property is being acquired under the power of eminent domain.https://commons.und.edu/indigenous-gov-docs/1216/thumbnail.jp

Excerpt from Congressional Record Regarding Amendment Proposed by Representative Burdick to Reduce Appropriation to Corps of Army Engineers, May 27, 1953

This excerpt from the United States (US) Congressional record, dated May 2, 1953, contains debate over an appropriations bill to which US Representative Usher L. Burdick offers an amendment to reduce the appropriation to the US Corps of Army Engineers for continued construction on the Garrison Dam and Reservoir. Included in the debate over Burdick\u27s amendment are representatives Gordon L. McDonough, Hubert Scudder and Craig Hosmer of California, Glen Davis of Wisconsin, Donald W. Nicholson of Massachusetts, John Taber of New York, and Otto G. Krueger of North Dakota, who spoke out against Burdick\u27s amendment. Burdick\u27s rationale in reducing the appropriation for the Corps of Army Engineers was that they were, without authorization from the US Congress, increasing the surface area and raising the pool level of the reservoir, endangering the city of Williston and nearby irrigation facilities along the Missouri River, and were seizing land to accommodate these increases of area and pool height, and that reducing their appropriation would limit these activities. See also: Drafts of Resolution by Representative Burdick Regarding Pool Level of Garrison Dam Reservoir, Undatedhttps://commons.und.edu/burdick-papers/1428/thumbnail.jp

Changin the Name of the Reservoir to be Formed byGarrison Dam, N. Dak., Known as Garrison Reservoir, to Lake Thompson

This report, dated August 2, 1951, also known as United States Senate Report 608, was written by the US Senate Committee on Public Works to accompany US Senate Joint Resolution 13. In the report, the Committee recommends passage of the bill with no amendments.https://commons.und.edu/indigenous-gov-docs/1139/thumbnail.jp

Annotated Copy of US Public Law 79-374, An Act Making Appropriations for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1947, for Civil Functions Administered by the War Department, and for Other Purposes, May 2, 1946

This document is a copy of An Act Making Appropriations for the Fiscal Year Ending in June 30, 1947, for Civil Functions Administered by the War Department, and for Other Purposes, with a section on page 4 underlined and bracketed. This Public Law, dated May 2, 1946, also known as Public Law 79-374, or War Department Civil Appropriations Act, 1947, includes appropriations for a variety of projects ranging from cemetery expenses to waterway maintenance to flood control. See also: An Act Making Appropriations for the Fiscal Year Ending in June 30, 1947, for Civil Functions Administered by the War Department, and for Other Purposeshttps://commons.und.edu/burdick-papers/1427/thumbnail.jp