John Warner

We ought to draw on that technology, as the Senator from Tennessee said and put together a strong package as a part of any legislation to help the nuclear industry come back again to the strength it once was in this country.

Absolutely. And if I might interject, there has been a lot of discussion here this morning about nuclear power.

As Senator Warner said, you just cannot address one without taking into consideration the effects on the other.

So, when the United States, and we will, as sure as I am sitting here, someday this country is going to move forward unifiedly, executive branch and legislative branch, and begin to temp our role in dealing with this.

We need to go out and listen a little bit and perhaps share with those in the States what we know about it back here.

I would say that the American public has a high level of interest in this subject.

It was worth every day of it. I miss it daily, but life, as Thomas Jefferson said, you have got to step off the path of public life and let those following behind take over.

By 2020 the House bill could reduce household income in my home State of Ohio by up to $261 per year on average, increase energy costs by up to 20 percent, and result in a net loss of more than 100,000 jobs.

Press on, I say to my colleagues. Press on. We will solve this as a country.

We cannot do it. But America did do it, again, with strong leadership.

I hope you encourage other colleagues to do it.

I think the record should show that we recognize the leadership being given by the President of the United States now on this issue.

I come back to the simple statement: we have got to lead. And I do believe they will follow.

But there is no greater honor that any person can have than to serve in this institution.

I think the Senate is going to be the institution that can bring together the disparity of thinking.

I am a recent convert on the need to address the urgent threat of climate change.

The United States has to step out and lead.

It adds additional roles and missions to our armed forces which today are valiantly fighting in two wars.

As Senator Warner so ably pointed out, the United States and our young men and women into conflicts over water and other critical resource shortages.

I do hope that, in the course of questions, I can amplify just a little bit on the need to being in the Armed Services Committee to be the seventh member of this panel.

We put in the legislation saying to the Department, begin to look at this situation, begin to do the planning, and see how that might affect the future roles and missions of the men and women of the Armed Forces.

I came to this effort to try and work on climate change through the combined work in this committee and in our committee, Senator Inhofe, of the Armed Services Committee.

I think that is a solid precedent for arguing today to return, as you have said Senator Alexander, to a greater reliance on nuclear energy to resolve the climate change dilemmas.

This country is going to go on doing that.

I think you said it, Senator Lautenberg. You referred to the fact that when I left, there were only five of us that had served in World War II.