Political Quotes

“I rise to support the energy and water development appropriations conference report. Within this bill is funding for a critical effort that is essential to the long-term future for citizens of the Northwest: the cleanup and restoration of the Hanford site in the State of Washington. The citizens near the Hanford area played a major role in the Nation's successful effort to win the cold war. Now it is the responsibility of our Federal Government to conduct environmental remediation so that the site will not threaten the health of future generations. This bill appears to fully fund the cleanup effort based on the priorities presented in the administration's February budget request. One unresolved Hanford-related concern pertains to the Fast Flux Text Facility (FFTF). This is one of the world's premier research reactors, and last month the Secretary of Energy made the right decision to proceed with an Environment Impact Statement (EIS) on future missions for this facility. The FFTF holds the potential to create a sufficient and dependable source of medical isotopes used to cure cancer; it can also meet the needs of a variety of other missions, including the production of needed material for deep space missions.”