I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Begich). Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment is as follows: (Purpose: To preserve Senate confirmation of the…

on behalf of Senator Akaka, I call up amendment No. 512. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The bill clerk read as follows: The Senator from Vermont [Mr. Sanders], for Mr. Akaka, proposes an amendment numbered 512.

I thank Senator Boxer for her thoughts and the extraordinary leadership she is providing on the Environment Committee. I think everyone understands that the function of the NRC is very simple. It is to make sure the 104 nuclear powerplants…

I tell my good friend from California, day after day, we hear from some of our colleagues how they don't trust the Federal Government and they don't want the Federal Government getting involved in the issues impacting their constituents…

I wish to say a word about a critical issue for the State of Vermont and for my State's energy future, and that deals with the Vermont Yankee nuclear powerplant. The Vermont Yankee nuclear powerplant is one of 23 plants in our country with…

Is that good economics? I think not.

We have 70 programs doing the same thing. I think we need to ask the question, how do we get rid of duplicate programs?

Thank you for the opportunity to submit this statement for the record on behalf of Feeding America.

Let me repeat that: Saves money for the government, because when we do that, when we make sure that our seniors have adequate nutrition...

The cost of this entire bill that we're talking about nutrition and nonnutrition, is $2 billion, compared to $19 billion addressing just the issues relating to falls.

I believe... that prevention, keeping people healthy, taking care of their needs at home, does actually save money.

I don't want to see one senior in this country go hungry. It's the morally right thing to do, and from a fiscally conservative point of view saving government money in my view, it is the right thing to do.

What we've heard from Dr. Koren is that in fact as a nation we are unnecessarily spending many, many billions of dollars because seniors are incurring a number of illnesses and problems because of poor nutrition.

We look forward to working with the groups in the aging network, Congress and the Administration to advance the interests, independence, and well-being of older Americans.

Hunger and food insecurity is a serious problem among many older Americans.

Today in America we have the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on Earth.

I think one of the main points that I want to make this morning... is that investing in seniors, making sure that seniors have the nutrition that they need, is not only the right and moral thing to do; it is the financially smart thing to…

Let me ask you this. Can you give us a rough estimate as to how many seniors today as we speak are not getting the nutrition that they need?

Our goal should be that no senior in this country goes hungry, that we do everything that we can to keep seniors out of nursing homes.

We look forward to hearing testimony from the witnesses and from committee members on the issue of senior hunger.

Are we happy with that as a nation?

In my view, the problem that we are discussing today, food security among seniors, is both a moral issue and it is a financial issue.

In the State of Vermont, people have been extremely dissatisfied with the role that Entergy has been playing.

You can't push a nuclear power plant on people. It is not a safety issue.

I would like them released publicly and I would like a member of the Commission now, Commissioner Magwood, you believe in an open process.