[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 6, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1710-S1711]
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-138. A resolution adopted by the House of 
     Representatives of the State of

[[Page S1711]]

     Michigan urging the President of the United States and the 
     United States Congress to explore and support policies that 
     will lead to the establishment of facilities within the 
     United States for the reprocessing and recycling of spent 
     nuclear fuel; to the Committee on Environment and Public 
     Works.

                        House Resolution No. 220

       Whereas, The federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 
     called for the United States Department of Energy to begin 
     collecting spent nuclear waste and develop a long-term plan 
     for storage of the material. In 2002, Congress approved Yucca 
     Mountain in Nevada as the location to allow the Department of 
     Energy to establish a safe repository for high-level spent 
     nuclear waste; and
       Whereas, In 2010, the Department of Energy halted the 
     project at Yucca Mountain when the construction authorization 
     process was in progress, despite the Nuclear Waste Fund 
     receiving more than $30 billion in revenue from electric 
     customers throughout the United Slates in order to construct 
     the facility and store the spent fuel; and
       Whereas, The Argonne National Laboratory has developed a 
     high-temperature method of recycling spent nuclear waste into 
     fuel, known as pyrochemical processing. This process allows 
     100 times more of the energy in uranium ore to be used to 
     produce electricity compared to current commercial reactors; 
     and
       Whereas, Extending the productive life of uranium ore 
     through pyrochemical processing ensures almost inexhaustible 
     supplies of low-cost uranium resources for the generation of 
     electricity, minimizes the risk that used fuel could be 
     stolen and used to produce weapons, and reduces the amount of 
     nuclear waste and the time it must be isolated by almost 
     1,000 times; and
       Whereas, Advanced non-light water reactors currently under 
     development in the United States and internationally have the 
     potential to utilize used fuel from existing reactors as 
     fuel, but according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
     there are no reprocessing facilities currently operating 
     within the United States; and
       Whereas, The federal government's inability to adequately 
     store or reprocess almost 100,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel 
     has adversely affected the residents of the state of 
     Michigan. Michigan has paid more than $800 million into the 
     Nuclear Waste Fund since 1983, but the federal government has 
     failed to use it to permanently store nuclear waste in a way 
     that serves the public: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives, That we urge the 
     President and Congress of the United States to explore and 
     support policies that will lead to the establishment of 
     facilities within the United States for the reprocessing and 
     recycling of spent nuclear fuel; and be it further
       Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to 
     the President of the United States, 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-139. A joint memorial adopted by the Legislature of the 
     State of New Mexico supporting the passage of the Dine 
     College Act of 2015; to the Committee on Indian Affairs.

                        Senate Joint Memorial 15

       Whereas, the State of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation 
     maintain a government-to-government relationship, and the 
     Navajo people residing in the State are citizens of both New 
     Mexico and the Navajo Nation; and
       Whereas, in 1968, the Navajo Nation established Navajo 
     Community College, which later became Dine College, to 
     provide access to higher education to the Navajo people; and
       Whereas, Dine College's New Mexico Flagship Campus is 
     located in Shiprock, and there is a Community Campus Center 
     in Crownpoint; and
       Whereas, Dine College has dual credit agreements with 
     school districts and schools in New Mexico, including the 
     Central Consolidated School District, Gallup-McKinley County 
     School District, Magdalena Municipal School District, Navajo 
     Preparatory School, Shiprock Alternative School, Inc., 
     Wingate High School and the Alamo Navajo Community School; 
     and
       Whereas, the State of New Mexico provides support to Dine 
     College through its Higher Education Department by way of 
     higher education capital outlay projects, the tribal college 
     dual credit funding program and high school equivalency 
     credential program grants; and
       Whereas, the United States Congress passed the Navajo 
     Community College Act of 1971, the Navajo Community College 
     Assistance Act of 1978 and the Navajo Nation Higher Education 
     Act of 2008, which collectively provide for maintenance, 
     operation and construction funding for Dine College; and
       Whereas, Representative Ann Kirkpatrick from Arizona 
     introduced the Dine College Act of 2015 ``to fulfill the 
     United States Government's Trust responsibility to serve the 
     higher education needs of the Navajo people and to clarify, 
     unify, and modernize prior Dine College Legislation'', and 
     Dine College has asked Senator Jeff Flake from Arizona to 
     introduce a Senate Companion Bill: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Legislature of the State of New Mexico, 
     That the State of New Mexico stand in support of the passage 
     of the Dine College Act of 2015 and urge the New Mexico 
     Congressional Delegation to work to ensure its passage into 
     Federal Law; and be it further
       Resolved, That copies of this memorial be transmitted to 
     the Secretary of Higher Education, the Governor, the New 
     Mexico Congressional Delegation, the Speaker of the United 
     States House of Representatives, the President of the United 
     States Senate and the President of the United States.
                                  ____

       POM-140. A petition by a citizen from the State of Texas 
     urging the United States Congress to enact legislation that 
     would require that an autopsy be conducted, and the results 
     thereof be made public, whenever a still-serving President, 
     Vice President, Member of Congress, Chief Justice or 
     Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, or any Judge of any 
     Federal Court dies; to the Committee on Homeland Security and 
     Governmental Affairs.

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