Mark Udall: “I will support this conference report, because while it is not perfect it is a great improvement over the bill as…”

“I will support this conference report, because while it is not perfect it is a great improvement over the bill as originally passed by the House last month. The House bill did include some very good things. It provided for an additional $100 million for essential environmental restoration and waste management at Savannah River, Hanford, and other sites in the DOE complex and for acquisition of additional containers for shipping wastes to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. These are important for Colorado, because our ability to have the Rocky Flats site cleaned up and closed by 2006 depends on the ability of other sites in the complex to play their roles in that process. So, I was--and remain--very appreciative that the appropriations committee has responded to these needs. Similarly, the House bill's additional $300 million for low-income home energy assistance will enable that important program to provide much needed assistance this year, even if it will not meet all needs. But for me all the good things in the bill were outweighed by one glaring omission--the total absence of any funds to pay already-approved claims under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or 'RECA.'”