Kent Conrad

That is a remarkable accomplishment. I think any objective observer who looks at the economic indicators can only conclude that this economic plan has been remarkable in its success. In fact, last year, for the first time in many years…

I was aware of national figures that showed the unemployment rate declining from 7.3 percent nationally to 5.1 percent today, the lowest level of unemployment we have had in this country in 7 years. I think that is another indicator that…

That is correct. The first time that we have seen the deficit decline 4 years in a row under one President was back in the 1840's.

If you measure the deficit against the size of our national income, which is probably the best measure of the deficit, that is true. In fact, the deficit measured against the size of the economy is the lowest it has been since 1974. In…

No. This Senator is suggesting that maybe we ought to revisit the question of reprocessing in this country. That is an alternative. Maybe we ought to consider various other technological alternatives that may present themselves. I am just…

I think, without question, my own view is that, obviously, this material is going to have to be moved at some point. But, on the other hand, perhaps the technology will be developed that would allow you to deal with this material at those…

My colleagues are aware that I serve on both the Senate Budget and Agriculture Committees, and that I have long been concerned about efficiency in Government. One effective method of reducing Government administrative expenses is writing…

As the original sponsor of the provision that authorized the program in the Rural Development Partnership Act of 1989, I commend the Senator from Oregon in his efforts to not only further define the statute, but also to clarify the…

Mr. President, everybody here agrees that work is important and that food stamp benefits should be temporary. But the work requirement provision in the pending welfare bill would have the unintended effect of preventing people who want to…

The harsh reality is, if a State opts into this block grant... What a hellacious choice to present the State officials of Florida or the State officials of Pennsylvania.

I ask my colleague, what in the State plan enables it to deal with a natural disaster like Hurricane Andrew? The State plan has the States setting out what they are going to do with the resources that they have under the block grant. When…

Once again I thank the Defense Subcommittee's distinguished leadership for their strong support. I greatly appreciate their cooperation throughout this process and the hard work of their able staff members, and am pleased that we have been…

I thank the Senator. As my friend from Hawaii may recall, the internationally recognized Center for Aerospace Sciences [CAS] at the University of North Dakota [UND] has been conducting intensive helicopter flight training for U.S. Army…

Yes, it has. In fact, it costs approximately 40 percent less to train helicopter pilots at UND than at the Army's usual facility at Fort Rucker.

In those places where the ponds have reached their capacity, or about to reach their capacity, those quantities be moved to dry cask storage on the spot, not be transported to an interim facility, but wait for the long-term repository.

If I could just finish by asking my colleague, what is the schedule for the creation and development of a permanent repository? Is that something that is anticipated to be done in 10 years or 20 years?

Their judgment is that it ought to be left in the locations where it is today, and to the extent that the ponds that are the current repository are filling that they move those quantities to dry cask storage. Is that the essence of their…

If I could just wrap up, I appreciate very much the patience of my colleague. Tomorrow or the day thereafter when the people from the utility in my region of the country--not directly from North Dakota--come to see me, I presume that their…

So what we may have here is another lawsuit, or series of lawsuits, endless litigation no doubt with respect to the question of who pays?

Well, do we have any estimate of once you have established this site--which would cost $1.3 billion initially, and have on top of that the transportation cost--what the annual operating cost of that facility would be?

About $30 million a year. We are talking about, obviously, a very substantial expenditure. Is this an expenditure by the Federal Government, out of the Federal coffers, the $1.3 billion?

The transportation would be in addition. So it would cost $1.3 billion, and the alternative, as you have outlined, would be $6 million per site, plus $1 million a year.

Then the question is, what is the alternative? If we go to a temporary storage in the State of Nevada, what would the cost of that approach be? Do you have an estimate of that?

Again, I would like to go back to the question of cost, if I could, because I think that is an important consideration in anything we do around here to anybody who appreciates, as the Senator from Nevada does, the intense budget pressure…

They have made a specific recommendation with respect to the potential risk, and they have asserted that a 10- to 30-millirem standard is appropriate. But this legislation has a 100-millirem standard; is that right?