[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 57 (Monday, April 26, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H2301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                OPPOSE H.R. 45, NUCLEAR WASTE POLICY ACT

  (Mr. GIBBONS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GIBBONS. Mr. Speaker, the Constitution, as I read and understand 
it, gives the House of Representatives the sole authority to raise 
taxes. However, now the nuclear industry wants to change this. H.R. 45, 
the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1999, proposes to grant taxing 
authority to the Secretary of Energy. That is right, the Secretary of 
Energy will have the authority to raise taxes on your electric rates, 
and that is a terrible precedent to set.
  The bill also proposes to take the Nuclear Waste Trust Fund off 
budget. We all know what that means. No more congressional oversight on 
how much money goes into the account or how the money is spent. And it 
puts the Nuclear Waste Trust Fund in the same technical off-budget 
status as the Social Security Trust Fund. How bizarre.
  H.R. 45 will break the balanced budget resolution and circumvent the 
bipartisan Budget Enforcement Act. Not to mention this bill still 
completely ignores our environmental laws, it ignores commonsense 
science, it ignores transportation hazards, and it ignores human health 
concerns.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 45 circumvents the Constitution, it sets bad 
congressional precedent, and it is bad for America. We need to do what 
is right for our constituents and oppose H.R. 45.

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