[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 29 (Thursday, February 12, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CELEBRATING THE NATION'S MANUFACTURERS' MEETING IN CHATTANOOGA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. LINCOLN DAVIS

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 12, 2008

  Mr. DAVIS of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of an 
exciting event in Tennessee. Next week, the nation's manufacturing 
interests will gather in Chattanooga, Tennessee to discuss ways to 
provide U.S.-built products to support a nuclear energy renaissance. 
Job growth for electricity generation is already underway in Tennessee 
at Alstom's Chattanooga facility where 300 new jobs are expected to be 
added.
  I congratulate Chattanooga's city leadership, the Tennessee-based 
sponsoring manufacturing companies, the National Association of 
Manufacturers and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the 
Nuclear Energy Institute on their commitment to job growth in the 
nuclear industry. A single nuclear plant will create as many as 2,400 
jobs during construction and 400 to 700 full-time, high-skill positions 
during its 60-year operating lifetime.
  Electric power companies have filed federal permits to build up to 26 
new nuclear plants. This list includes the Tennessee Valley Authority 
whose interests include potentially two new plants at the Bellefonte 
site in Northern Alabama. Based on statistics from the existing 104 
U.S. nuclear power plants, each year, a new reactor will produce about 
$600 million to federal, state and local governments in tax revenue and 
by expenditures in the economy for goods, services and labor. A four 
year construction schedule will also provide a substantial boost to 
suppliers of commodities and manufacturers of hundreds of components.
  Recognizing the need for new electricity generation, especially in 
our region, TVA and other companies are also evaluating the benefits of 
new carbon-free electricity. The 104 nuclear power plants operating 
today in the United States produce three-quarters of our carbon-free 
electricity. Of the emission-free sources, nuclear energy has the most 
potential for large-scale expansion.
  We face tremendous economic and energy challenges in Tennessee. 
Residents of Tennessee can benefit from deployment of carbon-free 
nuclear energy technology that creates jobs and stimulates the U.S. 
economy. I look forward to the progress in Tennessee's growing energy 
industry as our great country moves ever closer towards energy 
independence.