Angie Craig: “over the course of the last good number of days, I believe the American public has grown increasingly aware of the fact…”

“over the course of the last good number of days, I believe the American public has grown increasingly aware of the fact that the Senate has been brought to a near halt by Senators who have made every effort to use the rules, as they are entitled to in the Senate, to not allow this Senate or this Congress to consider a very important piece of national policy. That policy rests on how we, as a country, will deal with the issue of nuclear waste. Every other country in the world that uses nuclear energy to fuel its factories and light its lights has determined that a critical part of the whole of the use of nuclear energy is to adequately handle and manage the waste stream that comes from it, so that their public can be aware and confident of the fact that all comes together in a total picture. Interestingly enough, most of those countries who do this use the very technology that has been developed in our country to manage their waste. Yet, in our country, that has simply not been the case. We, for whatever reason--and mostly political, and certainly not as a result of science and technology--have argued that this waste should be allowed to build up in a variety of storage facilities around the Nation at the numerous sites--some 80 sites--within 41 States.”