Joe Barton: “I am shocked, shocked and amazed, that he would think that the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Boucher) and I would present…”

“I am shocked, shocked and amazed, that he would think that the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Boucher) and I would present a bill on the floor that had an unfunded mandate. I am one of the most conservative Members of this body, and I am joined by one of the most distinguished conservative Members, he would say moderate, progressive, Members on the other side of the aisle; and for us to bring forward an unfunded, an unfunded mandate is just beyond the pale. I would point out that since we passed a Nuclear Waste Policy Act in 1982, we have collected over $15 billion in the nuclear waste fund. Every time a nuclear plant generates a kilowatt of electricity, one mil, which is \1/10\ of a cent, goes into this fund; and we are collecting about $750 million a year as we speak into this fund. So this is far from being an unfunded mandate. This is the most overfunded, unmet, unobligated, unconstructed thing that we could have ever done in Federal Government.”