William Bryan: “I am dismayed to hear that there are continuing efforts to process through this Congress an ill-conceived piece of…”

“I am dismayed to hear that there are continuing efforts to process through this Congress an ill-conceived piece of legislation that would establish a temporary nuclear waste dump in my State at the Nevada test site. I believe those efforts will be defeated, and I believe that the policy indications overwhelmingly indicate that is an ill-conceived piece of legislation. Most of the debate that has occurred on this floor in this session and the previous session has been by my colleague Senator Reid and I in discussing this with other Members of this body, and the issue has frequently been framed that it is Nevada versus the rest of the country. I want to enlighten my colleagues this morning on some developments that I think are most interesting. The voices of the average citizen in America have not been heard in this debate. In fact, a recent poll commissioned by the University of Maryland indicates that slightly more than 35 percent of Americans, when questioned about this ill-conceived proposal, know anything about it at all. So my colleagues have not heard from the public. The nuclear energy industry and its advocates and supporters have been a massive presence on Capitol Hill. Their voices have been heard. Their power and their influence through the Halls of Congress have been immense.”