[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 55 (Thursday, April 16, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2243-S2244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petitions and memorials were laid before the Senate and 
were referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-8. A resolution adopted by the House of Representatives 
     of the State of Michigan memorializing the United States 
     Congress to reinstate funding for the Yucca Mountain Nuclear 
     Waste Repository; to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
     Resources.

                        House Resolution No. 21

       Whereas, Over the past four decades, nuclear power has been 
     a significant source for the nation's electricity production. 
     There are 104 operating nuclear power reactors in the United 
     States, providing about one-fifth of the nation's electricity 
     generation. According to the U.S. Energy Information 
     Administration, Michigan's three nuclear power plants 
     provided 28 percent of the electricity generated in Michigan 
     in 2013; and
       Whereas, Nuclear power can provide large amounts of 
     reliable, emission-free electricity at stable prices. Many 
     electricity markets across the nation are, or will soon be, 
     in need of new baseload generating capacity. However, the 
     construction of new nuclear power plants is being hampered by 
     the unresolved issue of spent nuclear fuel; and
       Whereas, Since the earliest days of nuclear power, the 
     great dilemma is how to deal with used nuclear fuel. 
     Currently, more than 70,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel 
     are stored in pools or casks at temporary, and potentially 
     vulnerable, sites around the country, including in Michigan. 
     More nuclear waste is generated every day. This high-level 
     radioactive waste demands exceptional care in all facets of 
     its storage and disposal, including transportation; and
       Whereas, The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 requires the 
     federal government, through the Department of Energy (DOE), 
     to build a repository for the permanent storage of high-level 
     radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. This act 
     includes a specific timetable to identify a suitable location 
     and to establish the waste repository; and
       Whereas, The establishment of a federal nuclear waste 
     repository is more than fifteen years overdue. Under the Act, 
     the DOE was supposed to begin accepting and storing the 
     nation's nuclear waste by January 31, 1998. In 2002, Congress 
     and President Bush approved Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the 
     site of the repository, and in 2008, the Nuclear Regulatory 
     Commission (NRC) accepted an application by the DOE to 
     construct and operate the repository. However, in 2010, at 
     the urging of President Obama, the DOE chose to unilaterally 
     and irrevocably terminate the Yucca Mountain repository 
     process; and
       Whereas, The NRC released a report in October 2014 that 
     found Yucca Mountain would be a safe and acceptable 
     repository for the permanent storage of used nuclear fuel. 
     The repository would meet all NRC standards for protecting 
     people and the environment from radioactivity. Clearly, it is 
     time to re-open the Yucca Mountain process, as it will 
     provide the best long-term solution to our nation's used 
     nuclear fuel problem; and
       Whereas, The Yucca Mountain process cannot move forward 
     without the U.S. Congress appropriating additional funds. 
     Electric ratepayers in Michigan and across the country have 
     paid billions into the federal Nuclear Waste Fund 
     specifically to support development of a long-term 
     repository. Since 1983, in accordance with the Nuclear Waste 
     Policy Act, customers of Michigan electric utilities have 
     paid $812 million into the federal fund. While fee collection 
     has been suspended as of May 16, 2014, the fund still 
     contains a total balance of over $31 billion: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we 
     memorialize the Congress of the United States to reinstate 
     funding for the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository; and 
     be it further
       Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to 
     the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the 
     United States House of Representatives, and the members of 
     the Michigan congressional delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-9. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of Maine memorializing the President of the United 
     States and Congress of the United States to support the 
     reform of the Social Security offsets of the Government 
     Pension Offset and the Windfall Elimination Provision; to the 
     Committee on Finance.

                            Senate Paper 382

       Whereas, under current federal law, individuals who receive 
     a Social Security benefit and a public retirement benefit 
     derived from employment not covered under Social Security are 
     subject to a reduction in the Social Security benefits; and
       Whereas, these laws. contained in the federal Social 
     Security Act, 42 United States Code, Chapter 7, Subchapter 
     II, Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance 
     Benefits, and known as the Government Pension Offset and the 
     Windfall Elimination Provision, greatly affect public 
     employees, particularly women; and
       Whereas, the Windfall Elimination Provision reduces by a 
     formula the Social Security benefit of a person who is also 
     receiving a pension from a public employer that does not 
     participate in Social Security; and
       Whereas, the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall 
     Elimination Provision are particularly burdensome on the 
     finances of low-income and moderate-income public service 
     workers, such as school teachers, clerical workers and school 
     cafeteria employees, whose wages are low to start; and
       Whereas, the Government Pension Offset and the Windfall 
     Elimination Provision both unfairly reduce benefits for those 
     public employees and their spouses whose careers cross the 
     line between the private and public sectors; and
       Whereas, since many lower-paying public service jobs are 
     held by women, both the Government Pension Offset and the 
     Windfall Elimination Provision have a disproportionately 
     adverse effect on women; and
       Whereas, in some cases, additional support in the form of 
     income, housing, heating and prescription drug and other 
     safety net assistance from state and local governments is 
     needed to make up for the reductions imposed at the federal 
     level; and
       Whereas, other participants in Social Security do not have 
     their benefits reduced in this manner; and
       Whereas, to participate or not to participate in Social 
     Security in public sector employment is a decision of 
     employers even though both the Government Pension Offset and 
     the Windfall Elimination Provision directly punish employees 
     and their spouses; and
       Whereas, although the Government Pension Offset was enacted 
     in 1977 and the Windfall Elimination Provision was enacted in 
     1983, many of the benefits in dispute were paid into Social 
     Security prior to that time: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That We, your Memorialists, request that the 
     President of the United States and the United States Congress 
     work together to support reform proposals that include the 
     following protections for low-income and moderate-income 
     government retirees:
       1. Protections permitting retention of a combined public 
     pension and Social Security benefit with no applied 
     reductions;
       2. Protections permanently ensuring that level of benefit 
     by indexing it to inflation; and
       3. Protections ensuring that no current recipient's benefit 
     is reduced by the reform legislation; and be it further
       Resolved, That suitable copies of this resolution, duly 
     authenticated by the Secretary of State, be transmitted to 
     the Honorable Barack H. Obama, President of the United 
     States; the President of the United States Senate; the 
     Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States; 
     and each Member of the Maine Congressional Delegation.
                                  ____

       POM-10. A resolution adopted by the General Court of the 
     Commonwealth of Massachusetts condemning all forms of anti-
     Semitism; to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

                              Resolutions

       Whereas, there is clear evidence of increasing incidents 
     and expressions of anti-Semitism throughout the world; and
       Whereas, in April 2014, the United States Department of 
     State released the International Religious Freedom report 
     recognizing that anti-Semitism continues to be prevalent 
     internationally; and
       Whereas, anti-Semitic acts committed and recorded in 2014 
     include murders, violent attacks and death threats against 
     Jews, arson, graffiti and property desecration and murders at 
     Jewish cemeteries, places of worship, schools and community 
     events; and
       Whereas, such anti-Semitic acts also extend to soccer 
     stadiums, the Internet, editorial cartoons and the use of 
     Nazi salutes, leading many Jewish individuals to conceal 
     their religious identity; and
       Whereas, the recent terror attack at a kosher supermarket 
     in Paris, France, and a mounting sense of insecurity among 
     France's Jews reminds us of the urgent need for a commitment 
     to address and confront anti-Semitism; and

[[Page S2244]]

       Whereas, the Governments in France, Germany, Italy and the 
     United Kingdom, the 4 countries where the majority of anti-
     Semitic incidents have occurred in Western Europe, have 
     strongly condemned anti-Semitism as unacceptable in European 
     society and have all made clear statements that such attacks 
     on their Jewish communities are intolerable; and
       Whereas, anti-Semitic imagery and comparisons of Jews and 
     Israel to Nazis have been on display at demonstrations 
     against Israel's actions in Gaza, throughout the United 
     States, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America; and
       Whereas, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a rich 
     history of tolerance to all faiths and religions; and
       Whereas, the United States Government has played an 
     essential role in counteracting the resurgence of anti-
     Semitism worldwide and has consistently supported efforts to 
     address the rise in anti-Semitism through its bilateral 
     relationships and participation in international 
     organizations such as the United Nations, the organization 
     for security and cooperation in Europe, and the organization 
     of American states; and
       Whereas, the Massachusetts General Court joins with people 
     everywhere in unequivocally condemning all forms of anti-
     Semitism and rejecting attempts to justify anti-Jewish hatred 
     or violent attacks as an acceptable expression of disapproval 
     or frustration over political events in the Middle East or 
     elsewhere; and
       Whereas, the Massachusetts General Court applauds the 
     United States and those foreign leaders who have condemned 
     anti-Semitic acts and calls on those who have yet to take 
     firm action against anti-Semitism in their countries to do 
     so; and
       Whereas, the very recent killings of a Danish film director 
     and a Jewish guard in Copenhagen, along with the vandalism of 
     a Jewish cemetery in Eastern France, have given rise to 
     concerns about a rise of terrorism and anti-Semitism across 
     the continent: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Massachusetts General Court supports 
     expanded anti-bias and Holocaust education programs to 
     increase awareness, counter prejudice and enhance efforts to 
     teach the universal lessons of the Holocaust; and be it 
     further
       Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted 
     forthwith by the Clerk of the Massachusetts Senate to the 
     President of the United States, the United States Secretary 
     of State, the Governor of the Commonwealth and to each member 
     of Congress elected from this State.

                          ____________________