Jim Cooper

I saw four very distinguished Americans who were agreeing on a bipartisan basis that we should at least look at reductions.

I think this Global Zero cause has been misnamed.

I am more worried, quite frankly, about what comes about on March 27th. That is the appropriations process.

Quite frankly, that is our job. That is Congress' job. It is not the President's job.

Americans want Washington to tighten their belt. And to do that, we need to find waste.

I think it is a little frustrating for my colleagues on this committee, myself, too, to really want to sit down at the table in a very bipartisan manner and figure out where some of these cuts need to be made.

Acting Administrator Miller, B&W got nearly 60% of its award fee in FY2012. The security failure at Y-12 only cost them $12 million in un-earned fee.

Acting Administrator Miller, how are you ensuring that Federal oversight performs site vulnerability analyses that look at the systemic impact and the broader implications of individual security decisions?

Acting Administrator Miller, are lessons from the deficiencies in security oversight being applied to safety oversight? How?

Secretary Poneman, are lessons from the deficiencies in security oversight being applied to safety oversight? How?

Do you think that NNSA has gone too far in delegating responsibility for making security decisions to its contractors?

Do NNSA contractors have too little independent oversight, or too much?

Do you believe that the incident is the result of overly burdensome security requirements, as some have claimed?

Let's forget politics for a second and the view of the Department, because right now the Department doesn't have a lot of credibility on the security issue.

Here is a guy who has been a loyal public servant for 29 years who is trying to express a viewpoint.

Trust me, I am not suggesting spending more money. I am asking what value the taxpayer got for this extraordinary outlay over many years.

But immediately prior to the incident, your agency in its wisdom had given Babcock & Wilcox an excellent rating for its safeguards and security work, and they received their full $51 million incentive fee in fiscal year 2011, even though…

I welcome the witnesses. I am sorry we have to be here, because this incident never should have happened.

It shouldn't just concern us. We paid no telling how many tens of hundreds, millions of dollars for cameras at Y-12 that didn't work, and an alarm system that gave off hundreds of false alarms a day.

Thank you, Chairman Rogers, I look forward to working with you and our colleagues on these important issues this year.

I take responsibility for everything that happens in the Department and I am----

Nearly every external review in the past decade has indicated serious problems with the security culture at NNSA and DOE.

Secretary Poneman, B&W got nearly 60% of its award fee in FY2012. The security failure at Y-12 only cost them $12 million in un-earned fee.

What should be done at the contract level to increase accountability and liability for failures?

Then how can you say it was well defended? It was not well defended. That is why we are having this hearing.