[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 96 (Wednesday, July 11, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1303]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2002

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                               speech of

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 27, 2001

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 2311) making 
     appropriations for energy and water development for the 
     fiscal year ending September 30, 2002, and for other 
     purposes:

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Chairman, I would like to explain my 
position on the Kucinich amendment that would reduce funding for the 
National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 
and move some of the NIF money into the nonproliferation programs of 
the national Nuclear Security Administration. There is clearly a need 
to avoid the damage that would occur to our nonproliferation programs 
if funding is not increased. The President made a mistake in his budget 
when he made deep cuts in the non-proliferation programs. The cuts make 
little sense in a world where many nations have the capability and 
desire to develop weapons of mass destruction including nuclear, 
chemical and biological weapons. We must therefore increase our 
capability to monitor developments around the globe in this area.
  The President's budget already cuts the NIF programs. I support that 
cut given the troubling history of this program. I am very concerned 
about the recent GAO report findings, which concluded that not only 
will NIF cost at least $1 billion more than planned and take six years 
longer than expected to begin operations, but also that the program 
poses a serious number of unresolved technical problems. Moreover, 
because of the critical nature of the GAO findings, the agency 
reportedly is doing a follow-up report, which it intends to submit to 
Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, furthermore, in an article in the Albuquerque Tribune, 
the Director of Sandia National Laboratory, Mr. Paul Robinson, 
criticized NIF suggesting there be a reduction in its design and cost 
to protect other nuclear weapons program components. Moreover, a report 
by Dr. Robert Civiak, a physicist and former OMB Program Examiner for 
the Department of Energy, spells out the need to cancel NIF before any 
further spending occurs.
  For these reasons and others, Congress needs to closely examine the 
NIF program and determine whether it warrants future funding. That is 
why I am voting NO on the Kucinich amendment.

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