[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 55 (Wednesday, April 21, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H2207]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      COMMERCE COMMITTEE LEGISLATION TO AMEND NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY

  (Ms. BERKLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, this Congress is on the verge of making a 
monumental mistake.
  As we speak, the House Committee on Commerce is trying to pass 
legislation that would dump more than 70,000 tons of lethal nuclear 
waste just 90 miles from my hometown, Las Vegas, home to over 1 million 
men, women, and children.
  What is worse, this bill proposes to move this waste on our Nation's 
highways and rail lines through 43 States through the backyards of 50 
million Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, it is estimated that this mobile Chernobyl will create 
between 200 and 400 potential deadly nuclear accidents. I ask my 
colleagues if such an accident occurred in their district and they 
voted for this legislation, what possible explanation could they give 
their constituents? Who would they send to clean up the radioactive 
mess, or care for the radioactive injured?
  There is an alternative. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson has come up 
with a good plan to keep the deadly radioactive waste off our Nation's 
highways and railways. He wants the Energy Department to take control 
of nuclear waste at our Nation's reactor sites.
  Please vote against this horrible mobile Chernobyl before it causes a 
nuclear accident.

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