Henry Waxman

We have all been contacted by constituents. That is why I am here today.

It is the law, you are correct, that Yucca Mountain is the repository.

The frustrations in our inability to resolve this problem are huge.

There was no plan B. As the Blue Ribbon Commission explained, this decision was widely viewed as political and provoked strong opposition in Nevada.

In 1982, Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, the Act sought to establish a fair and science-based process for selecting two nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste.

No, sir, and that is why we felt we could not go forward.

If this were done on an aggressive schedule, a new route could be approved by October of 2012 at the earliest.

No, sir, we feel that we do need the time that Mr. Linder had put out in his estimate.

We feel that we do need the time that Mr. Linder had put out in his estimate.

I think it is a misguided effort.

I think that probably what has doomed this application more than anything was the politics that has been played...

I know the original Keystone pipeline that goes into Congressman Shimkus's district and Indiana is much shorter...

Well, the oil industry has been saying this would create 20,000 or even 100,000 jobs.

The benefits for oil companies are also real. They will finally be able to export tar sands to Asia.

Now, the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline poses substantial risks for Americans.

When we first held a hearing on this subject a year ago, there were press reports that Koch Industries would be one of the 'big winners' if this pipeline was constructed.

We asked Koch whether this was true and were told that they have no interest whatsoever in the pipeline.

I think that is a pitiful excuse for a jobs policy.

If the Republicans were seriously and actually concerned about jobs, they would work with the President passing his jobs bill.

The Republicans say they support the pipeline because it will create tens of thousands of jobs, but that is not right either.

It will simply allow Canadian oil companies to use the United States as a conduit for shipping their tar sands overseas to China.

Oil prices are set by the global markets. This pipeline will have no impact on our vulnerability to price spikes or Iranian brinksmanship.

This tar sands pipeline won't boost our energy independence or lower gas prices or create the inflated jobs being promised.

Now is that a way to approve an important and controversial pipeline? I hardly think that is the case.

I think this pipeline is a bad idea. It ignores the concerns of the----