Jeff Bingaman

I wouldn't be here without it.

I'm honored to be here with Senator Udall to strongly support the nomination of Mike Connor for the position of Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

He knows the crucial role that Congress plays in setting policy and in overseeing how that policy is carried out.

The President, in my view, could not have chosen a better nominee for the position than Mike.

He has demonstrated, on numerous occasions, his ability to find solutions to very difficult problems and to find solutions that could gain the support of Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike.

I think all of us, if we were choosing a Secretary of Energy, would want to choose somebody with those attributes.

It's important that we have a person with substantial knowledge and many varied skills in order to succeed.

Second, we would want a person with demonstrated managerial abilities.

First we would want a person as Secretary of Energy who had a knowledge of science and engineering.

I would certainly like to thank Senator Bingaman, who just retired just very recently, for the strong support that he has shown me over the years, and including support for this nomination.

I thank my colleague Senator Leahy. Madam President, what is the pending business before the Senate now? Is it an amendment to this legislation? The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Amendment No. 3371 is the pending business. Amendment No…

It seems to me we have sort of three different issues, and maybe more than three.

We ought to be encouraging that. That should not be something that we just do for 3 years or 5 years.

I want to first, of course, commend the Senator from Virginia for his great leadership here in the Senate on a whole range of issues. He has served with great distinction here, and it has been an honor for me to serve with him. So I…

Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) requested agency information on the amount of EAJA fees paid out by the U.S. Forest Service from 1999 through 2005.

We do not insist on an ability to retrieve the waste, but as noted above, we urge following the framework for a transparent, consent-based process set forth by the BRC.

We thank you for accepting our written testimony on S.3469, a bill to establish a new organization to manage nuclear waste

We applaud the general thrust. But any consent based approach will enjoy a higher probability of success if Congress removes the Atomic Energy Act's exemptions.

Chairman Bingaman has made a really, in our estimation, a superb and meaningful start with S. 3469.

The understanding that the polluter pays the bill for the contamination it creates is properly embedded in S. 3469.

We fully support Chairman Bingaman's caution that any temporary storage facility must not become a permanent one.

There's a need for a mechanism to ensure that the temporary storage facility does not take the place of a long term repository.

Your dedication to public service, your thoughtful consideration of complex issues provides a superb model for public service.

Congress should require the standards for site screening and development criteria be in final form before any sites are considered.