William Bryan: “I acknowledge that this piece of legislation, as it has worked its way from the committee to the floor, is better than…”

“I acknowledge that this piece of legislation, as it has worked its way from the committee to the floor, is better than its original form. But the old adage that you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear is applicable to this piece of legislation. It represents exceedingly bad policy. I am bemused by my friends who are advocating on behalf of this piece of legislation in that laced throughout their comments is the suggestion that somehow those of us who oppose this legislation are 'playing politics.' I think it is important, once again, to recite a little of the history. In 1982, when the Nuclear Waste Policy Act was enacted into law, Congress made a judgment. I think it was a sound judgment. Congress concluded that it lacked the expertise to set public health and safety standards. They chose the Environmental Protection Agency, which is responsible generally for setting health and safety standards, as the appropriate agency to serve that function. I think that was a sound policy judgment. It was to use the language I frequently have heard on the floor, responsible. It was good science. It was responsible then and it is responsible now.”