Malcolm Wallop: “nearly 10 years ago, a group of Senators on the Energy Committee began a diligent effort to save the Department of…”

“nearly 10 years ago, a group of Senators on the Energy Committee began a diligent effort to save the Department of Energy's Uranium Enrichment Enterprise from extinction. The Department was faced with declining demand for its product, rapidly increasing competition in the market, and the effects of a series of improvident bureaucratic decisions. Finally, in the Energy Policy Act of 1992, we succeeded in creating a Government Corporation with the hope that freedom to operate in businesslike manner would save this enterprise. Today's confirmation of the Board members charged with making a success of the new Corporation should gratify those of us involved in this effort. Instead, I find myself plagued by a gnawing suspicion that the administration may thwart our efforts to save this venture and maximize returns to U.S. taxpayers. In the Energy Policy Act of 1992, this committee insisted on the transfer of the foundering Uranium Enrichment Enterprise to a newly created Government Corporation with the ultimate goal of privatization. Implicit in that undertaking was the notion that a direct correlation would exist between the success of the Corporation and the absence of Government interference in its operations.”