[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 23 (Wednesday, March 6, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 YUCCA MOUNTAIN POSES A MOVING DISASTER

  (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, how much more simply can I say it, that 
shipping nuclear waste back and forth across this country 96,000 times 
is simply unsafe. Sure, proponents of the Yucca Mountain Project would 
say that some 3,000 shipments have already been made to destinations in 
America without any incidents. But let me say, I am sure that the 
elevators in the World Trade Center operated faultlessly until 
September 11. We cannot use the past to predict the future.
  Mr. Speaker, terrorist threats against one of these many shipments is 
a real danger, and it would be foolish to disregard it. Moreover, the 
news program ``60 Minutes'' last year said that train accidents due to 
track failure are happening at a rate of nearly 1 every 24 hours. Just 
a few months ago the city of Baltimore was nearly shut down due to a 
chemical train accident.
  Mr. Speaker, I am not willing to gamble on transporting the deadliest 
substance known to man back and forth through 43 States, especially 
when DOE has no strategy or plan for the possibility of disaster. We 
need to protect our communities and constituents, protect our Nation. I 
urge Members to vote ``no'' on Yucca Mountain.

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