Jim Inhofe: “I can see what is going to happen after this because every time something comes up they are going to say: Wait a minute…”

“I can see what is going to happen after this because every time something comes up they are going to say: Wait a minute, you didn't require it then. They are overworked. So why should we require it now? We have two right now in the State of Oklahoma, in my State, awaiting those reports. The second thing is the unproven technology. If you go back to 1986, repeated again in 1996, we said we will only use proven technology when these projects are authorized. Admittedly, during the committee meeting they said--in fact even the chairman of the committee said--we know a lot of this technology is not proven. The third thing is it is open ended. I want to mention we are talking about $7.8 billion over 38 years. Yesterday, the GAO came out, and after pressing on this, said it could be higher. How much higher? It could be as high as $14 billion. I am old enough to remember--I think there are a couple of us in this Chamber who might remember, too--back in 1967 when we started out on the Medicare program. They said at that time it was going to cost $3.4 billion. I suggest to you this year it is $232 billion. I do not like these open-ended things. They say we are only talking about the first year. Once you start, you are committed. The last thing, of course, is what this amendment addresses. I believe very strongly that when we open up the O&M accounts, the operation and maintenance costs will be borne by the Federal Government.”