[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 139 (Wednesday, December 8, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S12019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      ROLE OF ATOMIC ENERGY ACT IN PEACEFUL USES OF ATOMIC ENERGY

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Environment and Public Works Committee be discharged from further 
action on S. Con. Res. 151, and the Senate now proceed to its 
consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the concurrent resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 151) recognizing the 
     essential role that the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 has played 
     in development of peaceful uses of atomic energy.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, 
the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, and that any statements relating to the resolution be printed in 
the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 151) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 151

       Whereas the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et 
     seq.) followed and sought to implement the Atoms for Peace 
     speech of President Dwight David Eisenhower in December 1953, 
     which provided the United States and the world with a 
     blueprint for commercial development of atomic energy to the 
     benefit of humanity;
       Whereas the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 defined mechanisms 
     for the production, control, and use of nuclear materials;
       Whereas the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 provided the initial 
     framework for regulation of nuclear material and facilities 
     and provided recognition that such control is necessary in 
     the national interest to ensure the common defense and 
     security and to protect the health and safety of the public;
       Whereas the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 recognized the need 
     for development and use of atomic energy under conditions to 
     promote the general welfare;
       Whereas the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 recognized that it 
     was in the national interest to conduct a comprehensive 
     program of research and development to optimize the benefits 
     of nuclear technologies for humanity;
       Whereas the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 set forth the 
     necessity to control certain types of information, material, 
     and facilities for security purposes, while ensuring 
     unclassified dissemination of appropriate scientific and 
     technical information;
       Whereas the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 provided the initial 
     framework for international cooperation in nuclear 
     technologies, under suitable controls to ensure common 
     defense and security, to provide cooperating nations with the 
     benefits of peaceful uses of atomic energy; and
       Whereas the legacy of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, with 
     103 operating nuclear power plants in the United States 
     providing 20 percent of the electricity supply of the United 
     States, is invaluable in providing clean, emission-free, 
     reliable power to the United States: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) recognizes that the enactment of the Atomic Energy Act 
     of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) was an essential step in the 
     development and use of a range of civilian nuclear 
     technologies to the benefit of humanity;
       (2) commends and remembers the authors of the original 
     Atomic Energy Act of 1954 for their foresight and leadership; 
     and
       (3) commemorates the role played by President Dwight David 
     Eisenhower in his historic Atoms for Peace speech and the 
     leadership he demonstrated in recognizing 50 years ago that 
     the benefits of nuclear technologies would be realized only 
     through a careful national and international system of 
     control, regulation, and use.

                          ____________________