Tony Thurmond: “I want to just recall that in 1946, when I was Governor of South Carolina, the project was announced to build this plant…”

“I want to just recall that in 1946, when I was Governor of South Carolina, the project was announced to build this plant in Aiken, SC, on the Savannah River between Georgia and South Carolina. I moved to Aiken to practice law. I guess I represented over 90 percent of the landowners down there. They had the land condemned and taken away, whether they wanted to or not. The Government said, ``We need this land for this plant.'' The Government needed it. They sacrificed a lot. They underwent many hardships. The plant was built. Why now do we want to take away the opportunity for those people who sacrificed like they did to help the Government to build this plant for the good of our country? We are not asking that they use any particular kind of technology. They can use the accelerator or they can use the reactor, or whatever they want to. We are merely saying it should not be taken away from these people who sacrificed so much in their lifetime for this plant and for the Government. We feel it should not be moved, regardless of what the technology is. It ought to remain at this site. It has been there for 45 years. Why take it away? They have done a good job. They have the infrastructure. They have the workers. They have everything to make a success. I do hope that this amendment will be defeated.”