Sam Gibbons: “how much more simply can I say it, that shipping nuclear waste back and forth across this country 96,000 times is simply…”

“how much more simply can I say it, that shipping nuclear waste back and forth across this country 96,000 times is simply unsafe. Sure, proponents of the Yucca Mountain Project would say that some 3,000 shipments have already been made to destinations in America without any incidents. But let me say, I am sure that the elevators in the World Trade Center operated faultlessly until September 11. We cannot use the past to predict the future. Mr. Speaker, terrorist threats against one of these many shipments is a real danger, and it would be foolish to disregard it. Moreover, the news program ``60 Minutes'' last year said that train accidents due to track failure are happening at a rate of nearly 1 every 24 hours. Just a few months ago the city of Baltimore was nearly shut down due to a chemical train accident. Mr. Speaker, I am not willing to gamble on transporting the deadliest substance known to man back and forth through 43 States, especially when DOE has no strategy or plan for the possibility of disaster. We need to protect our communities and constituents, protect our Nation. I urge Members to vote ``no'' on Yucca Mountain.”