Rick Allen: “I want to thank Congressman Rice for his introduction of this important legislation. Mr. Speaker, President Trump and I…”

“I want to thank Congressman Rice for his introduction of this important legislation. Mr. Speaker, President Trump and I agree on many issues facing our Nation today. We share our number one priority: national security. Energy independence is critical to our mutual mission to safeguard the United States. That is why I stand before my colleagues in the Nation today in support of H.R. 1551 to modify the nuclear production tax credit. Enacted in 2005, the Energy Policy Act provided production tax credits for reactors with a deadline of 2020. When the law was enacted, Congress did not anticipate the sunset date would place a hardship on energy producers. As every businessowner knows, the unexpected happens in the real world. My district is leading the way in the expansion of our Nation's nuclear energy resources, constructing two of the first nuclear reactors in the United States in more than 30 years. In fact, the 12th District of Georgia will have more than 75 percent of the nuclear generating capacity of the Southern Company. Also, because Georgia has been ranked as the number one place to locate your business for the last 4 years is because we enjoy extremely low power rates. In an unfortunate turn of events, Westinghouse filed for bankruptcy, which could result in the nuclear units coming online at Plant Vogtle a little later than 2020. H.R. 1551 will assist our Nation's energy producers to complete Plant Vogtle's units 3 and 4. Mr.…”