[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 23, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1826]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  THE NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACT OF 1997

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. LINDSEY O. GRAHAM

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 23, 1997

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate Chairman Bliley 
and the Commerce Committee for passing out of committee H.R. 1270, The 
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1997.
  Fifteen years ago the Department of Energy, under the Nuclear Waste 
Policy Act, was given the responsibility of determining the best 
location for a centralized nuclear storage facility and for readying it 
to receive irradiated fuel by January 1998.
  The rate payers, our constituents, have financed this operation at a 
cost of $13 billion. We have built and tested shipping containers and 
found them to be reliable and safe. Our European counterparts regularly 
ship similar canisters both domestically and internationally. With the 
passage of H.R. 1270, we can consolidate our spent nuclear fuel in a 
centralized facility.
  So why the holdup? The problem is not money or safety, but politics.
  As we wait for passage of H.R. 1270, the price tag to our 
constituents grows. Continued delays could force nuclear powerplants to 
build additional storage space at the rate payers' expense. 
Furthermore, because Congress fails to use the funds accumulated in the 
nuclear waste fund, other nonrelated projects siphon money from this 
depleting account.
  It is time that money collected for the nuclear waste fund be spent 
for its intended purpose and that the administration keeps their 
promise to the American people. Let's stop wasting our citizen's money 
and finish the job: Support H.R. 1270.

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