Angie Craig: “In 1995, Idaho's Governor Phil Batt, with my assistance, negotiated a milestone agreement with the Department of Energy…”

“In 1995, Idaho's Governor Phil Batt, with my assistance, negotiated a milestone agreement with the Department of Energy on the cleanup and removal of nuclear waste in Idaho. After that agreement was in place, I teamed with the then-Senator, now Governor, Dirk Kempthorne, to codify that agreement into law as a provision in an annual Department of Defense authorization. What Senator Graham of South Carolina has done Idaho did in 1995. That became the basis for Idaho to operate and in large part then for Washington to proceed to begin the cleanup of a very serious problem the State of Washington has at Hanford. Certainly, the Senator from Washington and I, and my colleague from Idaho, recognize the complexity and the seriousness of this problem. That is not in dispute. When DOE then asked to change and modify some of those relationships, a judge said, no, you cannot do that without a rulemaking process.”