Political Quotes

“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yucca Mountain as a storage location for the Nation's nuclear waste is dead. Even the administration understands that transporting the nuclear waste to a State with no nuclear activity jeopardizes the security of our Nation and is a bad investment of precious taxpayer dollars. Unfortunately, this bill not only tries to keep the Yucca Mountain project in regulatory limbo, it seeks to block information regarding viable alternatives to Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste dump. Yucca Mountain is in my district, and our State has been dealing with this boondoggle project for literally decades. According to the Government Accountability Office, over the past 20 years the proposed site has suffered from gross mismanagement, faulty science and research, contract mismanagement, and, most alarmingly, questions about safety and design of the site and its impacts on its surrounding environment and people. I am a strong supporter of the need to responsibly develop all of our Nation's energy resources, including nuclear energy. However, the key to my position is the need to be responsible, and continued investment in the storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain does not meet this litmus test. I continue to be disappointed at the House's insistence of reviving the Yucca Mountain boondoggle. Most recent estimates place the cost of the Yucca Mountain facility at nearly $100 billion. {time} 0030 Not surprisingly, this estimate seems to increase with each passing year.…”