Alan Simpson: “I am not opposed to the EERE. I actually like the program. But we had to make some difficult decisions, and our highest…”

“I am not opposed to the EERE. I actually like the program. But we had to make some difficult decisions, and our highest priority is maintaining our nuclear stockpile and making sure that our defense activities were fully funded. Secondly, it was making sure that the Army Corps of Engineers was fully funded at the WRDA level that our colleagues here on the floor always insist on. That means we had to make some difficult decisions within the Department of Energy. EERE, we did the best we could. But when the gentleman says, you know, we are not living in the Cold War anymore, so we don't need the nuclear weapons and stuff and we don't need these facilities and stuff, you are right, we are not living in the Cold War anymore. It is scarier times right now than it was in the Cold War. You never need those facilities until you need those facilities, and you better have had them by then. That is the problem. It is not looking forward. So I oppose this amendment because we have done our best within the weapons activities to make sure that we do what our Nation requires, and that is to make sure that we have a safe, reliable, and secure nuclear stockpile. And we ought to let the Defense Department come out with their Nuclear Posture Review and tell us what they believe we need as a weapons system, altogether, when that review comes out.…”