Political Quotes

“I appreciate the gentleman from Illinois' indulgence in allowing me to speak on this important subject this evening. Mr. Speaker, located in my central Washington district is the Hanford site, which has played a pivotal role in our Nation's security and defense for decades. As part of the Manhattan Project, the Hanford site produced plutonium for the bomb that eventually brought an end to World War II, and continued work at the site was critical during the cold war. However, this work also resulted in massive amounts of nuclear defense waste. Today, Hanford is the world's largest and most complex nuclear cleanup site, with over 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste in 177 temporary underground storage tanks. The Federal Government has a legal and a moral obligation to clean up this waste. The importance of Yucca Mountain cannot be overstated. Hanford is scheduled to send more nuclear defense waste to Yucca Mountain than anywhere else in the Nation. The high-level defense waste at Hanford will be treated at the waste treatment plant, which is currently being constructed, to turn this waste into glass that can then be sent to Yucca. The waste treatment plant is over 70 percent complete, and the glass produced will meet the geological specifications of Yucca Mountain; yet the Obama administration has moved the goalpost by illegally shutting down Yucca, which will take us back to square one and harm the already challenging Hanford cleanup. Mr.…”