[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 125 (Wednesday, October 6, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10583-S10587]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

                                 ______
                                 

   SENATE RESOLUTION 448--DESIGNATING THE FIRST DAY OF APRIL 2005 AS 
                  ``NATIONAL ASBESTOS AWARENESS DAY''

  Mr. REID submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 448

       Whereas deadly asbestos fibers are invisible and cannot be 
     smelled or tasted;
       Whereas when airborne fibers are inhaled or swallowed, the 
     damage is permanent and irreversible;
       Whereas these fibers can cause mesothelioma, asbestosis, 
     lung cancer, and pleural diseases;
       Whereas asbestos-related diseases can take 10 to 50 years 
     to present themselves;
       Whereas the expected survival rate of those diagnosed with 
     mesothelioma is between 6 and 24 months;
       Whereas little is known about late stage treatment and 
     there is no cure for asbestos-related diseases;
       Whereas early detection of asbestos-related diseases would 
     give patients increased treatment options and often improve 
     their prognosis;
       Whereas asbestos is a toxic and dangerous substance and 
     must be disposed of properly;
       Whereas nearly half of the more than 1,000 screened 
     firefighters, police officers, rescue workers, and volunteers 
     who responded to the World Trade Center attacks on September 
     11, 2001, have new and persistent respiratory problems;
       Whereas the industry groups with the highest incidence 
     rates of asbestos-related diseases, based on 2000 to 2002 
     figures, were shipyard workers, vehicle body builders 
     (including rail vehicles), pipefitters, carpenters and 
     electricians, construction (including insulation work and 
     stripping), extraction, energy and water supply, and 
     manufacturing;
       Whereas the United States imports more than 30,000,000 
     pounds of asbestos used in products throughout the Nation;
       Whereas asbestos-related diseases kill 10,000 people in the 
     United States each year, and the numbers are increasing;
       Whereas asbestos exposure is responsible for 1 in every 125 
     deaths of men over the age of 50;
       Whereas safety and prevention will reduce asbestos exposure 
     and asbestos-related diseases;
       Whereas asbestos has been the largest single cause of 
     occupational cancer;
       Whereas asbestos is still a hazard for 1,300,000 workers in 
     the United States;
       Whereas asbestos-related deaths have greatly increased in 
     the last 20 years and are expected to continue to increase;
       Whereas 30 percent of all asbestos-related disease victims 
     were exposed to asbestos on naval ships and in shipyards;
       Whereas asbestos was used in the construction of virtually 
     all office buildings, public schools, and homes built before 
     1975; and
       Whereas the establishment of a ``National Asbestos 
     Awareness Day'' would raise public awareness about the 
     prevalence of asbestos-related diseases and the dangers of 
     asbestos exposure: Now, therefore, be it

[[Page S10584]]

       Resolved, That the Senate designates the first day of April 
     2005 as ``National Asbestos Awareness Day''.

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, Alan Reinstein was diagnosed with 
mesothelioma on June 16, 2003 and underwent radical surgery to remove 
his affected lung, diaphragm, and other parts of his body. Today, Alan 
continues his courageous battle with this terrible illness.
  I received a phone call last week from by brother Don, indicating 
that a long-time family friend, Harold Hansen, had died from 
mesothelioma.
  I am submitting a resolution today to designate the first day of 
April of next year as National Asbestos Awareness Day.
  Harold Hansen was a family friend, such a wonderful man. In fact, my 
brother called me a short time ago and said: Harold is sick. He has 
mesothelioma.
  I said: Did he ever work around asbestos. And he said not that he 
remembers.
  I knew a lawyer who might be able to help him and referred him to the 
lawyer. Now Harold is dead.
  This is a terribly difficult problem in America. I talked about Alan; 
his wife Linda could not just sit back and watch her husband suffer. 
Knowing others were also suffering, she helped create the Asbestos 
Disease Awareness Organization to unite asbestos victims. One goal of 
the organization is to educate the public and the medical community 
about asbestos-caused diseases. The occurrence of asbestos-related 
diseases, including mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer is 
growing.
  Over the next decade, it is estimated that 100,000 victims in the 
United States alone will die of asbestos-related disease. About 30 a 
day will die from this condition.
  I received many letters from Nevadans with asbestos-related diseases 
in their families.
  Eleanor Shook from Searchlight, NV, where I was born and reared, lost 
her husband Chuck to this dread condition 2 years ago. They found that 
Chuck was sick, and 2 months later he died--no cure, no treatment, no 
reprieve. He had been repeatedly exposed to asbestos during all the 
years he was working to raise his family.
  I also got a letter from Jack Holmes, a former teacher from Las 
Vegas, who wrote:
  I am dying. I have malignant mesothelioma . . . I can expect extreme 
pain and suffering before I die.
  I also heard from Robert Wright of Henderson, who was exposed to 
asbestos in the Navy and now suffers from asbestosis.
  These are just a few of the hundreds of Nevadans who are suffering 
today from asbestos-related diseases. Every one of these stories is a 
tragedy because they all could have been prevented. Asbestos-related 
diseases are uncurable, and they are deadly. They can be prevented with 
greater awareness and education.
  Most Americans think asbestos was banned a long time ago. But 
companies use asbestos every day in their water pipes, as insulation, 
and in building materials and other substances. Asbestos kills, and 
kills invisibly. Asbestos cannot be smelled, tasted, or seen, and moves 
through the air in tiny particles and embeds itself in the lining of 
the lungs once it is inhaled. It stays there for up to 50 years, 
damaging tissue and eventually causing disease. Inhalation of asbestos 
is permanent and irreversible. Simply walking by a recently demolished 
building that contains asbestos can be enough to breathe in a deadly 
amount.
  I was in New York and a New York police officer was with me. He was 
part of an undercover unit that had New York City policemen dressed in 
construction clothes. They were running a construction business. That 
was part of what they were undercover doing. One of the reasons they 
did it is because there are people in this country so evil, so 
malignant that they are willing to take asbestos that these people said 
they had--it really wasn't asbestos--and they would take it and dispose 
of it. They would dispose of it in school grounds, and they had no 
concern where they disposed of what they thought was asbestos. Of 
course, they were arrested. But asbestos is a terrible problem. It is 
such a difficult problem in New York City alone where they remove 
asbestos. They are setting up these undercover operations to catch some 
of the people who are trying to make money on the disposal of asbestos.
  Exposure to asbestos has had numerous consequences for victims and 
their families. Better awareness and education can help to eliminate 
future exposure. Early detection can give patients increased treatment 
options and often improves their prognosis. For these reasons, I am 
introducing a resolution to designate the first day of April as 
Asbestos Awareness Day. Asbestos awareness will lead to prevention, 
early diagnosis, new treatments, and a cure.
  Just as the victims of families of asbestos-related disease joined 
together in founding the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, the 
Senate must unite in and pay tribute to victims by observing April 1 as 
Asbestos Awareness Day. I hope all Senators will join me in this 
effort.
                                 ______
                                 

  SENATE RESOLUTION 449--ENCOURAGING THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF 
                                REFUGEES

  Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. Brownback, and Mr. Leahy) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                              S. Res. 449

       Whereas the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 
     dated July 28, 1951 (189 UST 150) (hereinafter referred to as 
     the ``Convention'') and the Protocol Relating to the Status 
     of Refugees done at New York January 31, 1967 (19 UST 6223) 
     (hereinafter referred to as the ``Protocol'') provide that 
     individuals who flee a country to avoid persecution deserve 
     international protection;
       Whereas such protection includes freedom from forcible 
     return and the basic rights necessary for a refugee to live a 
     free, dignified, self-reliant life, even while in exile;
       Whereas such rights, as recognized in the Convention, 
     include the right to earn a livelihood, including the right 
     to engage in wage-employment or self-employment, practice a 
     profession, own property, freedom of movement and residence, 
     and receive travel documents;
       Whereas such rights are applicable to a refugee independent 
     of whether a solution is available that would permit the 
     refugee to return to the country that the refugee fled;
       Whereas such rights are part of the core protection mandate 
     of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees;
       Whereas more than 50 percent of the refugees in the world 
     are effectively ``warehoused'', which means such refugees 
     have been confined to a camp or segregated settlement or 
     otherwise deprived of their basic rights in a situation that 
     has existed for at least 10 years;
       Whereas donor countries, including the United States, have 
     typically offered less developed countries hosting refugees 
     assistance if they keep refugees warehoused in camps or 
     segregated settlements but have not provided adequate 
     assistance to host countries that permit refugees to live and 
     work among the local population; and
       Whereas warehousing refugees not only violates the rights 
     of the refugees but also debilitates their humanity, often 
     reducing the refugees to enforced idleness, dependency, 
     disempowerment, and despair: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the United States Senate--
       (1) denounces the practice of warehousing refugees, which 
     is the confinement of refugees to a camp or segregated 
     settlement or other deprivation of the refugees' basic rights 
     in a situation that has lasted 10 years or more, as a denial 
     of basic human rights and a squandering of human potential;
       (2) urges the Secretary of State to actively pursue models 
     of refugee assistance that permit refugees to enjoy all the 
     rights recognized in the Convention Relating to the Status of 
     Refugees dated July 28, 1951 (189 UST 150) (hereinafter 
     referred to as the ``Convention'') and the Protocol Relating 
     to the Status of Refugees done at New York January 31, 1967 
     (19 UST 6223) (hereinafter referred to as the ``Protocol'');
       (3) urges the Secretary of State to encourage other donor 
     nations and other members of the Executive Committee of the 
     United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' Programme to 
     shift the incentive structure of refugee assistance and to 
     build mechanisms into relief and development assistance to 
     encourage the greater enjoyment by refugees of their rights 
     under the Convention;
       (4) encourages the international community, including donor 
     countries, host countries, and members of the Executive 
     Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for 
     Refugees' Programme, to denounce resolutely the practice of 
     warehousing refugees in favor of allowing refugees to 
     exercise their rights under the Convention;
       (5) calls upon the United Nations High Commissioner for 
     Refugees to monitor refugee situations more effectively for 
     the realization of all the rights of refugees under the 
     Convention, including those related to freedom of movement 
     and the right to earn a livelihood;
       (6) encourages those countries that have not yet ratified 
     the Convention or the Protocol to do so;

[[Page S10585]]

       (7) encourages those countries that have ratified the 
     Convention or the Protocol but have done so with reservations 
     on key articles pertaining to the right to work and freedom 
     of movement to remove such reservations; and
       (8) encourages all countries to enact legislation or 
     promulgate policies to provide for the legal enjoyment of the 
     basic rights of refugees as outlined in the Convention.

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, it is a privilege to join my colleagues, 
Senator Brownback and Senator Leahy, in submitting a resolution to call 
attention to the plight of the large number of refugees throughout the 
world confined to refugee camps or segregated settlements for extended 
periods of time. In the vast majority of cases, these refugees are 
being ``warehoused,'' often for years, and in violation of their basic 
rights under the Refugee Convention adopted over half a century ago.
  We know of 300,000 Angolans in Zambia, Congo-Kinshasa, and Namibia, 
two million Afghans in Iran and Pakistan, 100,000 Bhutanese in Nepal, 
and 500,000 refugees from Sudan who have lived in refugee camps in 
various countries for 20 years. Shamefully, of the world's nearly 12 
million more than 7 million have been restricted to refugee camps or 
segregated settlements for a decade or even longer.
  These tragic statistics aren't front page news. Refugees seldom 
dominate the headlines. But the reality is that the troubles of our 
time are exacting a heavy toll on people fleeing from conflicts and 
oppression. Throughout the world, men, woman and children are on the 
move, silent witnesses to the cruelties that plague our age.
  Refugee camps are often created quickly, to address a crisis. But the 
solution sometimes creates a greater problem when temporary refugee 
camps turn into long-term places of detention and confinement, often 
under extreme conditions with little attention paid to the growing 
number of refugees that find themselves in endless and harmful 
situations.
  Under the Refugee Convention of 1951, refugees have rights, including 
the right to earn a livelihood, to engage in wage-employment or self-
employment, to practice a profession, to own property, and to have 
freedom of movement and residence. ``Warehoused'' refugees can do none 
of these things. Unable to work, travel, own property or obtain an 
education, they live unlived lives, without the basic freedoms they are 
entitled to have under the Convention of 1951.
  Without the chance to obtain an education or earn a living, refugees 
becomes easy recruitment targets for terrorist groups. We can be 
vigilant against terrorism, and we can do so without abandoning the 
basic humanity of refugees and squandering their lives in squalid 
warehouses.
  The resolution we are offering denounces the practice of warehousing 
refugees and urges all nations to grant refugees their basic rights 
under the Refugee Convention.
  America has a proud history as a haven for refugees, especially since 
the end of World War II. Assistance to refugees has been a conspicuous 
aspect of our leadership in the world. As a leader in this area, we 
need to say to the world that the widespread practice of warehousing 
refugees violates international law. As members of the world community, 
we have a responsibility to ensure that refugees are able to exercise 
the basic rights granted to them under the Refugee Convention.
  Over 100 international organizations support the end of warehousing, 
including more than twenty U.S.-based agencies. Nobel laureates have 
condemned this practice, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South 
Africa, and worldwide support continues to grow.
  Last year, the United States was the largest global contributor to 
agencies assisting refugees. But, there is far more to do. We must 
strengthen our own commitment, and work with other countries to meet 
the worldwide challenge. To do too little will only add to the 
injustice endured by millions of refugees around the world, jeopardize 
our own national security, and ignore incalculable human potential that 
is being lost.
  I urge our colleagues to join us in supporting this resolution, and 
help us to give new priority to ending this inhumane practice that has 
been festering too long in so many parts of the world.
  I ask unanimous consent that editorials from the New York Times and 
Washington Times be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the editorials were ordered to be printed 
in the Record, as follows:

               [From The New York Times, Sept. 28, 2004]

                        Warehouses for Refugees

       The starvation and disease stalking the refugee camps near 
     the Darfur region of Sudan are a reminder that for many 
     refugees, conditions where they land are not much better than 
     the conditions they flee. The world has 12 million refugees, 
     and 7.4 million of them have been living in camps or 
     settlements for more than 10 years. Many are prohibited from 
     traveling or working, confined to crowded, squalid tents, at 
     the mercy of marauding gangs, and utterly dependent on 
     handouts of food insufficient to ward off hunger and on 
     health care that does not prevent cholera and dysentery. Some 
     people have lived in such camps for generations.
       Half a million refugees from Myanmar, for example, have 
     lived in camps in neighboring countries for 20 years, with no 
     right to work or travel. The same is true of about 140,000 
     Somalis, who have lived since 1991 in closed camps in 
     northern Kenya.
       The camps are often established quickly to deal with 
     refugee emergencies and never get dismantled. The original 
     goal--allowing refugees to return home when conditions 
     improve--has had the perverse effect of preventing them from 
     establishing new lives in a new country. Countries like 
     Pakistan, Zambia and Chad, which end up accepting the vast 
     majority of refugees from troubled countries on their 
     borders, would rather quarantine them than integrate them 
     into their societies.
       It is time to rethink warehousing, and refugee groups and 
     the United Nations high commissioner for refugees have 
     recently begun to explore how to help refugees become more 
     self-reliant. Refugees who learn skills or earn money can be 
     an asset to their war-torn homelands when they return. 
     Moreover, there are ways to open up refugee camps without 
     angering host populations. Zambia, for example, has given 
     Angolan refugees land to farm. The food they grow has turned 
     sleepy villages into trading centers, fueling local commerce.
       Wealthy countries need to absorb more people for permanent 
     resettlement. Europe, shamefully, accepts only a handful. The 
     United States has become far less welcoming over the last 10 
     years, and particularly since the terrorist acts of Sept. 11, 
     2001. In 1992, the United States accepted 132,531 refugees; 
     last year it was 28,422, although this year that number will 
     almost double.
       The security concerns about accepting refugees from the 
     camps are unfounded. No terrorist would want to spend years 
     in squalid camps and then undergo a long and uncertain 
     vetting process simply to infiltrate the United States.
       Indeed, the security threat comes from the camps' 
     concentration of idle, frustrated, resentful young men. 
     Warehousing itself can breed terrorism; Afghanistan's Taliban 
     movement was born in the refugee camps of Pakistan.
       Initially, reducing warehousing will require commitment 
     from wealthy countries with the wherewithal to provide land, 
     training and microcredit. That will cost more than doling out 
     a weekly ration of rice and cooking oil. But it could reduce 
     costs later, and it is a way to create a more promising 
     future for millions.
                                  ____


              [From the Washington Times, Sept. 10, 2004]

                         Unwarehousing Refugees

                          (By Arthur E. Dewey)

       Long-staying refugees in rural camps or urban ghettos are 
     not commodities in a sad state of storage, but vibrant human 
     beings carving out lives for themselves in exile.
       That said, where they lack the right to work legally or 
     integrate into the community, they can languish in dependency 
     and lose hope for the future. Refugee ``warehousing'' is an 
     issue that demands attention--and is getting it.
       The U.S. Committee for Refugees has made this issue a 
     centerpiece of its current advocacy campaign. Meanwhile, the 
     State Department, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner 
     for Refugees, UNHCR, and other partner agencies are taking 
     dramatic steps to address the warehousing problem.
       The key step is facilitating voluntary repatriation. Tens 
     of thousands of long-staying refugees have returned to Sierra 
     Leone, Angola and Liberia from neighboring countries. More 
     than 80,000 Iraqis have gone home since the fall of Saddam. 
     But the biggest success story is Afghanistan, where more than 
     3 million have returned from long stays in Pakistan and Iran.
       This continuing repatriation represents one of the largest 
     refugee solutions in modern times, and the number of refugees 
     caught in these dead-end situations has decreased remarkably.
       While ``de-warehousing'' refugees--through repatriation, 
     local integration, or resettlement--is an important first 
     step, it is not enough. Sustaining repatriation requires 
     commitment from the international donor community over the 
     long haul. Returnees need long-term transitional help and 
     employment opportunities to restore their dignity and self 
     reliance.
       To that end, the U.S. started an employment program called 
     the Afghan Conservation Corps, ACC. Already, 750,000 
     seedlings

[[Page S10586]]

     have been planted on the dusty hillsides around Kabul by 
     thousands of returning refugees, internally displaced 
     persons, demilitarized militias, and Afghan women.
       Ultimately, hundreds of thousands will join them in working 
     on similar projects. The ACC is a model for how to make de-
     warehousing irreversible.
       There are still critics who charge we are not doing enough 
     to bring to the United States needy refugees who can't be 
     repatriated. I say, ``Watch what we are doing.'' Watch, for 
     example, the rapid response to an unexpected opening in 
     Thailand to interview 15,000 Lao Hmong stranded for more than 
     a decade in Wat Tham Krabok. By year's end, most will be 
     resettled in the U.S. Watch also our admitting Meshketian 
     Turks from Russia who had been rootless for decades.
       Resettlement is costly and labor-intensive, but we have 
     spared no expense or effort to resettle refugees in the 
     United States, when that is the most appropriate solution.
       We know there remain vulnerable people--especially women 
     and children--who have waited for years or even decades for 
     rescue. This administration is committed to overcoming the 
     obstacles in the way of such a rescue.
       We urge other countries to be more generous in giving aid, 
     admitting refugees and facilitating local integration where 
     appropriate. As Secretary of State Colin Powell said during 
     World Refugee Day commemorations in June: ``We join other 
     nations in easing the plight of all those who will close 
     their eyes tonight in a strange land to dream of the home 
     they were forced to flee. It's up to all of us to defend the 
     non-negotiable demands of human dignity. It's up to all of us 
     to help the world's refugees feel at home again.''
       It takes a home, not a warehouse, to make these dreams come 
     true.
                                 ______
                                 

  SENATE RESOLUTION 450--TO AUTHORIZE TESTIMONY AND REPRESENTATION IN 
                 UNITED STATES V. DANIEL BAYLY, ET. AL

  Mr. FRIST (for himself and Mr. Daschle) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 450

       Whereas, by Senate Resolution 317, 107th Congress, the 
     Senate authorized the Permanent Subcommittee on 
     Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs to 
     produce records from its investigation into the collapse of 
     Enron Corporation to law enforcement and regulatory officials 
     and agencies;
       Whereas, by Senate Resolution 394, 108th Congress, the 
     Senate authorized testimony and legal representation of a 
     former employee of, and a detailee to, the Permanent 
     Subcommittee on Investigation in the case of United States V. 
     Daniel Bayly, et al., Cr. No. H-03-363, pending in the United 
     States District Court for the Southern District of Texas;
       Whereas, in the case of United States v. Daniel Bayly, et 
     al., subpoenas for testimony have been issued to Claire 
     Barnard, a former employee of, and Edna Falk Curtin, a former 
     detailee to, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations;
       Whereas, pursuant to sections 703(a) and 704(a)(2) of the 
     Ethics in Government Act of 1978, 2 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 288b(a) 
     and 288c(a)(2), the Senate may direct its counsel to 
     represent employees of the Senate with respect to any 
     subpoena, order, or request for testimony relating to their 
     official responsibilities;
       Whereas, by the privileges of the Senate of the United 
     States and Rule XI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, no 
     evidence under the control or in the possession of the Senate 
     can, by administrative or judicial process, be taken from 
     such control or possession but by permission of the Senate;
       Whereas, when it appears that evidence under the control or 
     in the possession of the Senate is needed for the promotion 
     of justice, the Senate will take such action as will promote 
     the ends of justice consistent with the privileges of the 
     Senate: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That Claire Barnard and Edna Falk Curtin are 
     authorized to testify in the case of United States v. Daniel 
     Bayly, et al., except concerning matters for which a 
     privilege should be asserted.
       Sec. 2. The Senate Legal Counsel is authorized to represent 
     Claire Barnard and Edna Falk Curtin in connection with the 
     testimony authorized in section one of this resolution.
                                 ______
                                 

  SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 141--RECOGNIZING THE ESSENTIAL ROLE OF 
 NUCLEAR POWER IN THE NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES AND 
SUPPORTING THE INCREASED USE OF NUCLEAR POWER AND THE CONSTRUCTION AND 
    DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AND IMPROVED NUCLEAR POWER GENERATING PLANTS

  Mr. DOMENICI (for himself, Mr. Craig, Mr. Crapo, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. 
Graham of South Carolina, Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Voinovich, 
Mr. Pryor, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Miller, and Mr. Alexander) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources:

                            S. Con. Res. 141

       Whereas the Energy Information Administration in the 
     Department of Energy estimates that by 2025 the United States 
     will need more than 300,000 megawatts of new electricity-
     generating capacity to maintain its current levels of growth 
     and standards of living;
       Whereas Vision 2020, the nuclear energy industry's plan to 
     increase the use of nuclear energy through the year 2020 to 
     meet the projected growth in the demand for electricity, 
     calls for maintaining the Nation's nonemitting electricity 
     generation at 30 percent, which would require 50,000 
     megawatts of new nuclear power to be generated;
       Whereas meeting the increasing demand for continuous and 
     reliable, or baseload, electricity is essential for 
     supporting the economic growth which is necessary to maintain 
     the Nation's standard of living;
       Whereas even the aggressive implementation of energy-
     efficiency initiatives cannot replace the need for new 
     electricity-generating capacity;
       Whereas nuclear power generated by the 103 commercial 
     nuclear power plants operating in the United States provides 
     the electricity for 20 percent of the United States;
       Whereas consumers of nuclear power enjoy a higher level of 
     price stability compared to consumers of other energy 
     sources;
       Whereas nuclear power plants do not produce harmful 
     emissions or greenhouse gases and can provide States, and the 
     Nation as a whole, with flexibility in meeting goals for 
     clean air and economic growth at lower costs than other 
     sources of power;
       Whereas increasing nuclear power generation will require 
     designing and building new plants as well as operating the 
     new facilities, which together will create thousands of new 
     jobs;
       Whereas the nuclear power industry, the Department of 
     Energy, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are working 
     together to demonstrate the effectiveness of a new licensing 
     process for nuclear power plants, which allows full public 
     participation in decisions about the designs and sites of new 
     nuclear power plants without causing delays in construction 
     or commercial operation;
       Whereas nuclear energy, science, and technology 
     applications are vital in the diagnosis and treatment of 
     disease, food and mail safety, space exploration, structural 
     inspection, and other important applications;
       Whereas for decades, commercial nuclear power generating 
     facilities have had an unmatched safety record;
       Whereas nuclear power plants in the United States use 
     excess material from Russian weapons programs to generate 
     power, which is a vital component of United States 
     nonproliferation policy;
       Whereas many countries intend to build new nuclear power 
     plants, with 29 new plants currently under construction 
     worldwide and more than twice that many being planned, and 
     the United States must continue to play a leadership role 
     both in domestic nuclear power production and in encouraging 
     the use of nuclear power in other countries; and
       Whereas the United States continues to lead the world in 
     the development, use, and control of nuclear technology: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) recognizes the essential role of nuclear power in the 
     national energy policy of the United States; and
       (2) supports the increased use of nuclear power and the 
     construction and development of new and improved nuclear 
     power generating plants as a means of contributing to 
     national energy independence and maintaining a clean 
     environment.

  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise to submit a resolution 
recognizing the essential role that nuclear power plays in our national 
energy policy and to voice support for this remarkable technology. 
America's nuclear power reactors supply electricity for one in five 
homes and businesses in the United States and do so affordably, 
reliably and without producing any emissions. To ensure that nuclear 
energy's important contribution to our nation continues, we must 
develop and build new nuclear power plants based on advanced technology 
and safety features.
  Our Nation will require 40 percent more energy by 2020, requiring the 
use of all available energy sources--wind, solar, hydro, natural gas, 
coal and nuclear energy. Even the most aggressive conservation and 
energy efficient programs will not satisfy all of our increasing energy 
needs. We will require significant additional electric generating 
capacity to meet this rising demand--electricity generation that is 
absolutely necessary to keep our economy growing. And we must provide 
this new power while protecting our environment.
  America's 103 nuclear power reactors provide safe, clean and 
reliable, baseload electricity around the clock. Over the past 50 
years, America's nuclear power plants have posted a safety

[[Page S10587]]

record that is unrivalled. In addition, nuclear plants produce 
electricity without producing harmful emissions or greenhouse gases. 
Nuclear energy is the only major energy source that is both emission-
free and expandable.
  The use of nuclear energy also reduces our dependence on foreign 
sources of energy. Protecting our Nation's energy independence must 
remain at the forefront of our energy policy decisions.
  Since scientists first harnessed the power of the atom for the 
benefit of mankind, the United States has led the world in the 
development of nuclear science and technology. With some 29 nuclear 
reactors under construction in other countries, the United State's 
leadership role in commercial nuclear power could be diminished. Our 
scientists, engineers and technicians must research, develop and build 
new nuclear facilities to keep their skills sharp and further their 
knowledge. In addition, new plant project also will mean more jobs for 
those scientists, engineers and technicians, as well as many other 
trades.
  America's nuclear power plants contribute to nonproliferation 
efforts. Through the public-private ``Megatons to Megawatts'' program, 
which this body has strongly supported, 50 percent of the fuel used in 
our commercial reactors comes from converted Russian warheads.
  Nuclear energy also is one of the most efficient means of producing 
hydrogen, another key to our energy future. Hydrogen will help reduce 
our dependence on imported petroleum in the transportation sector, and, 
like nuclear energy, is a clean air energy.
  Therefore, I call upon my colleagues to join me in support of this 
resolution recognizing nuclear energy's important contributions to our 
Nation, such as maintaining our energy independence and protecting our 
environment. And I urge all of you to join me in supporting research, 
development and construction of new nuclear power plants today, so that 
nuclear energy can continue providing these benefits in the future.

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