Ron Wyden

What we recognized is that you ought to extend the current tax provisions, at least for a relatively short period of time.

We need to be deliberate about what that end point needs to look like and move toward that end point again with strong understanding of what our policies are yielding in terms of change in that portfolio and at what pace.

These debates are going to be less thoughtful and they are going to be less informed because you will not be part of these debates.

I often kid and say it is not an energy speech unless you say you are for all of the above three or four times.

The Senate Finance Committee, earlier this year, I think made the correct call in terms of trying to start this debate.

What happens from this point on? There are a number of us who sit on both this committee and the Energy Committee.

One of the things that I would offer is that the portfolio will shift in terms of mix, so as a practical matter I think it is great that we have natural gas and an expectation that the costs will be low for some period of time.

I do not see how we improve, number one, the investment climate for the kinds of important programs you are talking about if we do not have a more permanent and level kind of playing field.

I am the Democratic sponsor of, is really the work of Senator Kirk, Senator Kirk of Illinois.

Everybody stay tuned when on the floor we can list the gag order and we can talk about Chairman Kohl and go through his record the way I think it ought to be appropriately discussed.

I only want to say that it's my intent to give a speech on the floor of the United States Senate when we get back to outline the accomplishments of Senator Kohl, this thoughtful, modest man, over the last years through this Committee…

I think it would be extremely wise for the government to close that final loophole.

Senator Wyden and Senator Merkley deserve credit for their hard work, extraordinary patience, and understanding of our Community in the development of this legislation.

We commend Senator Wyden and Senator Merkley, and their staff, for writing this legislation and doing so in a manner that fully protects agricultural water supplies.

S. 3483 marks the end of over 30 years of fighting over the unallocated water behind Bowman Dam.

We're very pleased to be able to move forward after all of the years of work to reach agreement.

We urge the subcommittee to pass S. 3483 as introduced.

I particularly just wanted to commend Senator Merkley and his staff for their leadership on the Crooked River bill.

This bill strikes a balance between competing demands for a scarce resource.

It is unacceptable to me, and to the constituents I represent, for Hanford to be the de facto repository for 90 percent of the nation's high-level radioactive defense waste.

It's been an excellent panel.

The problem as I see it is that our nation's nuclear waste policy treats civilian nuclear waste and defense waste the same, with defense waste almost as an afterthought.

I can assure you that storage on the banks of the Columbia River is not seen as a permanent solution in my part of the world.

You've got safety issues if you keep the waste onsite. You've got safety issues if you ship it somewhere.

Senator Kohl and I wrote to CMS about why it failed to meet the deadline.