Scott Walker: “Shouting about this amendment does not make it any smarter. It is too dumb to start with. Just as we are going to get…”

“Shouting about this amendment does not make it any smarter. It is too dumb to start with. Just as we are going to get the payoff from this program, some are prepared to kiss off the program. Now, that makes no sense whatsoever. First of all, it makes no sense because what we are going to actually do is end up increasing spending here. I realize people cavalierly toss off the idea that there might have to be termination costs in all of this. Sure, it takes appropriations, but if the court orders us to make the payments, we are going to have to make the payments. It is about $40 million compared to what would otherwise be a $17 million expenditure. Mr. Chairman, this is not about corporate subsidy as much as it is about nuclear safety. This is an advanced light water reactor program that is a government-mandated program to design a new passively safe reactor to replace existing ones. It is a safety program. If we are going to abandon the government's involvement in safety, it seems to me that what we are pursuing is rather ludicrous. Now, the fact also remains that we have a legal commitment in the authorization, in Public Law 102-486 to pursue this program. We ought to meet that commitment. It also does not make any business sense. The gentleman stood up here and talked to us about Adam Smith. General Electric just sold two nuclear reactors to Taiwan. The Federal Government plans to get about $3 million from that transaction.”