[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Pages 21892-21896]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2004

  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Dole). Under the previous order, the 
Senate will proceed to the consideration of H.R. 2754, which the clerk 
will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 2754) making appropriations for energy and 
     water development for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
     2004, and for other purposes.

  Mr. DOMENICI. Madam President, while we are now on this energy-water 
appropriations bill, let me first thank my friend, Senator Harry Reid 
from Nevada, as the ranking member of this subcommittee, for the hard 
work he and his staff put into this bill. We have a great bill. The 
Senate will find that out in the next 2 or 3 days. I am hopeful there 
will only be a few amendments. We kind of know what they are. We do not 
intend to discuss them until those proponents come to the floor and 
offer them, but we know about them and we think we can have a serious 
debate Monday. I understand maybe we can't vote on Monday. If we can, 
we will, and dispose of that serious nuclear amendment--antinuclear 
development amendment. If not, we would do it on Tuesday.
  But I hope nobody intends to use this bill as a Christmas tree for 
authorizations. I can assure them they will meet great resistance from 
this Senator. This is not an authorization bill for electricity. That 
is somewhere else, another bill. It is in the conference. We have 
already voted. We will not consider that, and if we do, it will not 
matter because I will not bring back from conference any energy 
amendments that belong on the authorization bill, creating the policy 
for the energy future of our country.
  With that, I move now to the business before the Senate.
  Today the Senate is going to consider one of the 13 appropriations 
bills. It is a small one, but it is a very important one. We worked 
very hard this year to

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put together what we think is a fair bill under extremely difficult 
circumstances. This fiscal 2004 allocation to the subcommittee is $27 
billion, an amount that is only $367 million over the President's 
request. This situation posed a daunting challenge to the subcommittee.
  Let me put that in context. All of the Members here know the 
President's request dramatically cut water projects. The occupant of 
the Chair knows that--it cut water projects well below the current year 
level and left out many projects we had to do.
  Furthermore, the President proposed to fund a portion of the Corps of 
Engineers budget, an amount of $145 million, in a way the Congressional 
Budget Office says is not permissible. If it is not permissible and we 
did it, it would be subject to a point of order--even though the 
Congressional Budget Office gives the President credit for the 
mechanism in this scoring request.
  Thus, we have included a provision that will make an additional $145 
million available to the Corps to spend on the enactment of the 
provision in authorizing legislation that is required under the rules 
of the Congressional Budget Office. We think that is the way to do it.
  But for now, the long and the short of all of this is that the 
President's request was $530 million below the current year level for 
water projects, and we only received an increase from the 
appropriations process of $367 million.
  There is nothing that Senators and House Members are more aware of 
than water projects in their home States. I do not know if they are as 
important as the Members think. But I only can tell you that if you are 
chairman of this committee, you cannot get by without Senators stuffing 
your pockets with the requests and sending them to your office, saying: 
Don't forget; don't forget. We have a pile of them. I didn't bring them 
to the floor. There are more than a few hundred.
  The bill spreads the increased allocation generally as follows:
  An additional $233 million to the Corps water projects; an additional 
$67 million to the Bureau of Reclamation water projects; an additional 
$80 million to independent regional commissions which were badly cut in 
the President's request, such as the Denali Regional Commission of 
Alaska, the Appalachia Regional Commission, and the Delta Regional 
Commission; and we held the Department of Energy at just about the 
President's request level.
  I believe--and I think Senator Reid will agree with me--that this was 
the fairest way to distribute the very limited resources. It was the 
fairest in any sense of the word, and also in the sense of the word of 
what our Members expect of us and what they can expect of us in doing 
our job correctly.
  The bill provides $4.43 billion for the Corps of Engineers. That is 
$233 million above the President's request but $212 million below the 
current year's level. We have included no new construction projects and 
have focused our resources on restoring the cuts to existing 
construction projects.
  For the Bureau of Reclamation and related activities, the bill 
provides $990 million, which is $67 million above the President's 
request but only $17 million above the current year level.
  For nuclear weapons activities of the National Nuclear Security 
Administration--known as NNSA--the bill provides $6.47 billion, which 
is $96 million more than the President's request and $492 million over 
the current year level.
  The budget increases are consistent with a major Defense Department 
initiative to restore our nuclear weapons complex.
  Mr. President, I told you when we opened the bill that it was a small 
bill. But it has a lot in it. It pays for the National Nuclear Security 
Administration. That is the laboratories and the administration. Among 
its charges is making sure scientifically, with the science-based 
Stockpile Stewardship Program--meaning these laboratories have to 
engage in all kinds and varieties of science--that they tell us our 
weapons are valid without testing them.
  For most of our adult life we tested them, so we had no doubt. Great 
scientists hooked them up and the great desert provided the test site. 
And we tested them. But we voted to quit it. We didn't vote to stop 
having nuclear weapons; we just voted not to test them.
  Somebody has the responsibility when you stop testing them to be in a 
position of reporting to the Chief Executive and, thus, then to us 
whether the weapons are still valid. Some of them are 30 or 35 years 
old. I don't know whether they are 40 years old yet. But they are 
pretty old for nuclear weapons. So somebody has to do that. That is the 
work of the National Nuclear Security Administration and the 
laboratories, and this bill has to pay for that.
  For nuclear nonproliferation activities, it is important that we 
understand this little bill funds $1.34 billion, which is the same as 
the President's request, and $171 million above the current level. The 
committee continues its leadership role in countering nuclear 
terrorism. The budget request, coupled with $148 million added in last 
year's supplemental, gives a strong boost to this highly important 
program.
  When we speak of terror in the world, we now have almost stopped 
talking about nuclear terrorism because we speak so much about 
biological terrorism and chemical terrorism. But we cannot forget that 
the granddaddy of all terrorist activities is a nuclear terrorist 
activity.
  Nonproliferation is the effort of our Government to try to keep the 
things that people might use for nuclear weapons or to keep them out of 
the hands of those who might put them together and use them. That is a 
big job.
  This is a little bill with a lot of money--$1.34 billion for that 
effort. We have great laboratory people engaged in that.
  Then there is the ``Isn't good news provision.'' We have been paying 
to clean up energy sites for many years. These are the sites that 
remained from the cold-war era in the development of nuclear weapons 
and plutonium in various parts of America, such as the Savannah River 
area, areas in the west coast and Washington--environmental cleanup 
sites.
  This bill provides an incredible amount of money--$7.6 billion. But 
believe it or not, that is $62 million below the President's request. 
For the first time in many years, it is less than the previous year--
$238 million less.
  The subcommittee was not required to add huge additional amounts to 
maintain cleanup budgets around the country. This is an unknown--almost 
secret--success of this Department of Energy. They said they would do 
it when they took office, but they have been saying it as they took 
office in that Department for 12 years, that I am aware of, and each 
year it was more--not less.
  We finally have a couple of projects--led by one in Colorado--which 
have timeframes for completion which is credible and near at hand. 
There are some that are going to go on for a long time. But at least 
since this money comes out of the defense of our country, the Defense 
Department might be hopeful that as they increase their defense dollars 
we will not have to suck away large amounts to pay for this cleanup, 
although I am not yet making that as a promise because there are a few 
of these sites for which we are not absolutely certain how long it will 
take and how much it will cost. But they have become extremely, 
extremely expensive sites with thousands of people employed.
  The frustration level for a Senator such as me paying for it year 
after year is very high. I didn't think the cleanup sites were supposed 
to be public works projects. I thought they were supposed to be cleanup 
sites.
  But there is a lot of justification and a lot of reasoning, and we 
are not responsible for all of them. But some of them we have to fix, 
and we are trying.
  Then there is a great issue in the State of my friend, Harry Reid, of 
Yucca Mountain. The project at Yucca causes the Senate to provide $425 
million for 2004 construction. That is $166 million below the 
President's request, and $32 million less than the current

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level. But this project will be a major point of contention in 
conference with the House, which has increased the project by $180 
million over the request.
  This is a very important matter to many members of the subcommittee, 
each for various reasons, and it will require additional work as we 
move through the process.
  For renewable energy research and development, believe it or not, we 
even found the money--$459 million, which is $15 million more than the 
President's request and $40 million more than this year--for 
renewables.
  The committee funds the President's new hydrogen technology 
initiative.
  For nuclear energy research and development, the bill provides $437 
million, which is $447 million above the President's request and $63 
million over a comparable current bill level. The Members know this is 
a great priority of mine as we continue to make investments. I believe 
it will eventually result in the construction of a new commercial power 
reactor, or more than one, in the United States. We will provide a 
total of $35 million toward the development of a new reactor in Idaho 
that could produce both electricity and hydrogen. We are not alone in 
this goal and in this kind of project. Japan is on the way. Japan is 
substantially ahead in terms of a timeframe for hydrogen engines in 
automobiles. Yet it is not something that will happen quickly. It is a 
few years away even for them, like 10, and, who knows, more than that 
for us. But we had better get started since we know we are hugely 
dependent upon oil from foreign countries.
  Basic research for the Department of Energy: $3.36 billion, which is 
$50 million above the President and $88 million above this year. We 
talk about research. We had a big debate last night about research at 
the National Institutes of Health, a huge debate. We are researching 
the human body and the ways we might give health where the bodies are 
sick and find solutions to illnesses that besiege us. We are spending a 
huge amount of money in that field. I think the figure was well over 
the $25 billion mark.
  The other agency that does research, but in physics and other 
sciences, is the Department of Energy. We do not treat it right; we 
only have $3.36 billion. That is $88 million more than last year for 
all of their research.
  The bill provides $48.5 million for the Denali Commission, $58 
million for the Appalachian Regional Commission, and $7 million for the 
Delta Regional Authority, an increase of $5 million over the 
President's request and $1 million below the current year level.
  The bill also provides a total budget of $619 million for the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, the same as the budget request and an increase 
of $41 million over the current year level.
  Given the overall constraints, we worked hard but were unfortunately 
limited to accommodating only the highest priority requests of Members 
where possible. This is going to be a difficult year, but I look 
forward to the recommendations of other Members.
  Finally, the Senate should be fully aware that the committee reported 
bill includes a provision regarding the Middle Rio Grande River in New 
Mexico. The provision does two things. First it prohibits the use of 
outer-basin water for endangered species purposes. Second, it 
establishes how the Endangered Species Act will be complied with for 
this river and the affected fish. This is a very important provision 
that has the bipartisan support in the New Mexico delegation and at the 
state level.
  Before I yield to the floor and my Ranking Member for his statement, 
I would like to thank him and his excellent staff for all the effort he 
has put forth in getting this bill put together.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The assistant Democratic leader.
  Mr. REID. I join with Senator Domenici in presenting this 2004 Energy 
and Water Development Appropriations Act. I am pleased with the bill 
Senator Domenici and I have produced. Our relationship extends all my 
time in the Senate on this committee. We have done this bill seven or 
eight cycles. We have worked together a long time and have worked well 
together.
  This has proven to be a difficult bill this year given the very tight 
budget constraints within which we had to work. Effectively, Senator 
Domenici and I--I hate to use the word ``effectively''--we have worked 
well together. We have $367 million in new funding, which is hardly 
adequate to pay for the many needs in this bill.
  We added the first $300 million to the Corps of Engineers in the 
Bureau of Reclamation. I am pleased we added $233 million above the 
budget for the Corps, but I note that we are $212 million below what we 
enacted last year.
  I realize with respect to staffs, they have done the best they could 
do with the limited resources. But we need to recognize that by 
underfunding the Corps of Engineers, we are seriously impacting how 
they accomplish the mission Congress laid out for them. Project 
schedules will continue to be lengthened, the maintenance backlog will 
grow, and solutions to water needs throughout the country will be 
delayed.
  We must always remember, as many have said, wars in the future are 
not going to be fought over land but over water. We have wars already 
taking place within the confines of our country dealing with water.
  Senator Domenici and I believe over the long term we need to find 
additional resources for the Corps. The work they do for our Nation is 
too important to be underfunded in the manner they are underfunded.
  Finally, $67 million in funding above the President's request was 
added to regional commissions which were slashed in the President's 
budget request. While the funding for the Denali Commission, the 
Appalachian Regional Commission, and the Delta Regional Authority is 
far below what is required, we have been able to improve matters 
significantly. While we were able to restore current year funding to 
the Appalachian Regional Commission, I am disappointed we are unable to 
do more for the Delta Regional Authority. However, our funding 
constraints simply do not allow more funding to be restored at this 
point.
  At some time there will be offered an emergency title fund for 
weather-related, nationwide problems, and that is what we have done 
while the bill is on the floor. I am prepared to muster every vote 
possible to support this critical emergency package. There was a debate 
yesterday that took place, but a very cursory glance would recognize 
this is much different from what was presented yesterday. We try to be 
fiscally prudent. We strive to be fiscally prudent. We were sent here 
to be responsive to the needs of the American people. Devastating 
floods, hurricanes, tornados, and fires have hit so many parts of the 
country this year, requiring a response from the Congress. I am glad we 
are going to do so. We will have bipartisan support for this emergency 
request.
  As for fiscal year 2004 before the Senate, I reiterate, as either 
Senator Domenici or I do every year at this time, we have produced a 
bipartisan bill that addresses the needs of the Nation and accommodates 
many of the desires of our Members. We cannot give everyone everything 
they need. That is an understatement. We do the best we can. Our 
subcommittee has always been known as one of the most collegial on the 
Hill. Our staffs have performed this way this year in super fashion. I 
extend to Senator Domenici my appreciation for his leadership in 
helping produce this bill.
  Additionally, I think it is useful to let everyone know there have 
been certain items deferred for consideration when we go to 
conference--that is, with one exception--the same items we defer each 
year until we know what our final resources will be. We cannot do that 
until we complete our conference. So there are no new construction 
starts or new environment infrastructure projects for the Corps or 
Bureau and no university or hospital marks within the DOE's Office of 
Science and no geographically specific renewable energy earmarks. It is 
my expectation, as every year, that we will emerge with Members' 
projects in each of the accounts.
  In my view, we will accomplish three very important objectives with 
this legislation. No. 1, we have been able to

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restore many of the ridiculous cuts made by the administration to the 
Corps and Bureau. This President, this administration, is not the only 
one that has made these ridiculous cuts, but that is not the way it is. 
For reasons I do not fully understand, every administration does such a 
terrible job of understanding the importance of the Corps of Engineers. 
Each year, we get a budget from a President that tremendously 
underfunds these programs.
  It reminds me of when I was chairman of the Military Construction 
Subcommittee. Every year, we got a request from the President that did 
not do anything for the Guard and Reserve--nothing. I don't know what 
this country would have done if we had sent the bill back they gave us. 
Every year, the Congress bails out the administration on projects, 
programs relating to the National Guard and Reserve programs. That is 
what this reminds me of. I don't know what the country would do if we 
sent the administration back the bill they gave us. But as usual, we 
don't have the resources to do more.
  We have a construction backlog with the Corps of Engineers and the 
Bureau of Reclamation of $40 billion, but we have found enough 
resources to prevent the problem from becoming much worse. The chronic 
underfunding of the Corps of Engineers prevents it from establishing 
the critical flood control and navigation infrastructure of this 
Nation.
  In the meantime, rather than me going into a lot of detail, suffice 
it to say that I believe this administration is doing the American 
taxpayer a tremendous disservice by sending woefully inadequate budget 
requests to Capitol Hill. In fact, I believe they are putting our 
economy at risk and putting people's lives at risk.
  No. 2, in this bill we have fully funded the National Nuclear 
Security Administration, the organization charged with keeping our 
nuclear weapons stockpile safe, secure, and reliable, and with securing 
and safeguarding fissile material abroad, particularly in Russia.
  At a time when our Nation has never been more concerned about 
homeland security, these programs are more critical than ever.
  As I mentioned earlier, we are going to send an amendment to the desk 
at a subsequent time that will provide, on an emergency basis, $125 
million in Corps of Engineers funding to mitigate weather-related 
damages. Acts of God is the reason we are offering this emergency 
amendment. There may be a few who oppose an emergency designation on 
this portion of the bill, but this funding is absolutely critical to 
the parts of our country that have been devastated by floods, 
hurricanes, tornadoes, and fires this year.
  Senator Domenici did a fine job of describing the bill, so I will not 
take up everyone's time by repeating it. However, before we close here 
today, I want to take a moment to thank the staffs for all their hard 
work.
  This bill has never had the resources needed to do what our Members 
would like us to do. However, the staffs have always done the very best 
they could with what we had.
  Senator Domenici has always been well served by his now-former staff 
director, Clay Sell. Tammy Perrin and Erin McHale have also done a very 
good job for the majority staff.
  Clay left the committee at the end of July to become a Special 
Assistant to President Bush for Economic Affairs. And I don't think it 
is appropriate to blame Clay for the just-announced deficits that we 
have. But I do say, on a serious note, he is a fine man, and the 
President is so fortunate to have someone of Clay's stature working for 
him.
  As I have indicated, he has been great to work with. He has been a 
tremendous asset to Chairman Domenici. And my staff and I have nothing 
but fine things to say about him and the rest of Senator Domenici's 
staff.
  I look forward to working with Senator Domenici's former Energy and 
Water staff director, Alex Flint, who is now the chief of staff in the 
Energy and Natural Resources Committee, of which Senator Domenici is 
the chairman. Alex Flint is therefore working here on this bill as the 
staff director of the Natural Resources Committee, but also helping 
maneuver this bill through the Congress. And he can do that because he 
has had previous experience being the staff director for Senator 
Domenici.
  Alex Flint is a fine man. He is of the same caliber as Clay. Senator 
Domenici has been served extremely well by these two fine men.
  On my staff, Madam President, I thank Roger Cockrell. It was very 
difficult to do, but Roger agreed to leave his lifetime job, really, 
with the Corps of Engineers and come to work for the Senate, the 
Appropriations Committee. What a wonderful asset he has been to our 
committee.
  Senator Byrd was elated we were able to work this out so that he came 
here. There is nobody in the Congress that knows more about the Corps 
of Engineers projects than Roger Cockrell. So I publicly thank him for 
making this very dramatic change in his personal life, leaving the 
career that he has had. And I am sure they are disappointed, the people 
at the Corps, but we in the Senate are elated he has decided to join us 
on a permanent basis. He does a wonderful job of handling our water 
issues.
  There are a handful of Senators who are interested in the NNSA and 
other DOE issues, but every Member has an interest in the Corps of 
Engineers and/or Bureau of Reclamation projects. Those projects are the 
engine that drives this bill, and Roger does a wonderful job of working 
through literally thousands of requests.
  I also thank Nancy Olkewicz, who returned to the subcommittee to 
handle renewable energy, nuclear energy, the Office of Science, and 
several other non-Defense Department of Energy accounts this year after 
having worked for the full committee for a number of years.
  Senator Byrd has spoken highly of Nancy. And I am very happy that she 
has been willing to come here and work with me on this bill, and also 
for Senator Durbin on the legislative branch bill.
  Finally, I want to say a word about my staff director, Drew Willison. 
Drew is one of those people who came to the Senate as a fellow from a 
Government agency. This agency was the Environmental Protection Agency. 
He worked with me, and he worked in the areas that he was not familiar 
with, but it didn't matter; he was tremendous. The first year he came 
to work for me, we had a highway bill. I had been on the Environment 
and Public Works Committee since I came to the Senate, and he was the 
first person who was able to impart to me enough information that I 
fully understood what I was doing.
  As a result of that, I recognized talent when I saw it, and I worked 
with him to get him to leave the Environmental Protection Agency. He 
has had a very busy time working with me. He has graduated from law 
school while working with me, going to night school, which is very 
hard. He went to my alma mater, George Washington School of Law.
  In short, let me just say that Drew Willison is a valuable asset to 
not only me but to our country.
  And let me say to Senator Domenici, I appreciate many things about 
Senator Domenici, but most of all his friendship. He is a proud 
Republican. I am a proud Democrat. But first of all, we are proud 
Americans.
  He does a tremendous job of representing the State of New Mexico. I 
have been with him to New Mexico. I have been to New Mexico without 
him. He is a person who serves that State very well.
  As I have indicated, I thank Senator Domenici very much for our many 
years of working on this committee. I heard Senator Specter talk about 
he and Senator Harkin having a seamless transition when things change 
in the Senate, but so do we. Under the circumstances we have had this 
year, it has been extremely difficult. I am happy to work with him and 
lock arms and do what we can to push through this most important piece 
of legislation.
  Every dollar we have in this bill is designated. We don't have set-
asides in this bill. Senator Domenici and I and our staffs work 
together to try to come

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up with a fair bill. These dollar amounts in this bill are not--no one 
dictates to us what we do. We have to decide what is best for the 
country. We are not always right, but we really try to do what is right 
for the country.
  I also thank Chairman Stevens and Senator Byrd, who is also the 
former Democratic leader, for their steadfast support for the work that 
Domenici and Reid do. I have never had either one of these people come 
to me and say: How could you have done this? It is the wrong thing you 
have done for the committee. It is quite the opposite. They come to us 
and say: How can we help?
  So they are great to work with, these two men. The President pro 
tempore of the Senate is Senator Stevens, who is the successor of the 
President pro tempore when we were in control, Senator Byrd.
  These two very wise men have very tough choices to make, but I have 
great respect for the work they do, which has only been amplified by 
the way they worked with us on this bill.
  So I look forward to debate on this bill starting next week. Senator 
Domenici and I are disappointed we are not going to have votes on 
Monday. But, as some know, a terrible tragedy occurred in the Senate 
family. The son of Senator Gordon Smith, a wonderful human being, was 
taken in death this past Wednesday night. So as a result of that, there 
will be no Senate votes on Monday. The Senate will be in session on 
Monday, but out of respect for Senator Smith, there will be no votes.
  Senator Domenici and I have asked, and we have received word that 
Senator Feinstein will offer her amendment, which will be cosponsored 
by Senator Kennedy. They can be here at 2:30. We will see if the leader 
can agree that we can have them debate this matter and set it up for a 
vote Tuesday, at the discretion of the majority leader. I look forward 
to the debate.
  As Senator Domenici said, we hope people understand this bill is not 
a perfect bill. It is the best we have done. If somebody has a problem, 
their staff should get ahold of our staff. We feel we have bipartisan 
support, and we have pretty much accomplished what we have set forth in 
the bill. The matter Senator Feinstein will debate is something that, 
as far as we know, is the only real contentious issue on the bill, and 
that relates to some of the nuclear money in this bill. Other than 
that, I think we should have a fairly easy time moving this most 
important bill through the Senate. We look forward to conference, 
which, again, will not be easy. We have our position and we will do our 
best to protect the position of the Senate in conference with the 
House.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Mexico is recognized.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I thank Senator Reid for his kind 
remarks. I think he knows that for each and every comment he made, I 
have nothing but reciprocal feelings toward him. I thank him for his 
hard work and for working with me to get this good bill.
  There are two things in this bill that are always misunderstood, and 
administration after administration makes it difficult. One is the 
Corps of Engineers. It is kind of amazing, whenever we get in trouble 
and we want somebody to build something for us someplace overseas, the 
Corps of Engineers is asked to supervise it and manage it and hire the 
people and the contractors--whether it is in Saudi Arabia or Iraq. And 
then at home, every President cuts the Corps of Engineers and leaves us 
in a position where we cannot sustain those numbers. So we have a bill 
that gets more difficult all the time.
  This year, the President didn't do as badly; nonetheless, the same 
sequence was followed. We are trying to fix it somewhat. It has put us 
in the position where we cannot quite do it. We will be talking with 
other people in the Senate about some very serious emergency matters, 
which are not covered here, that we might very much have the Senate 
consider putting in this bill.
  Second, people don't know we run three giant nuclear laboratories. 
That means we have to keep the best scientists in the world and their 
families living in the area, especially Los Alamos, which is a city 
built only for nuclear. That means we have to modernize because 
scientists are living in modern times. They want to work in modern 
facilities, not 50-year-old buildings. We are in the process of 
modernizing the workplace in Los Alamos in particular. Some don't 
understand that that is a must. We have to spend money to do it. In 
addition, as part of maintaining a rigorous core of nuclear weapons, 
there are certain scientific activities these laboratories have to do, 
so they are always on the cutting edge in terms of keeping these the 
most safe weapons. That means they have to do research--the most 
cutting-edge kind. You cannot have scientists at Sandia Laboratory or 
Los Alamos researching in depth a new science called nanoscience in 
shacks or in 50-year-old buildings. We are in the process of rebuilding 
modern facilities for this kind of science. We are going to bring 
companies and individuals to work with these great scientists as this 
new field of nanoscience is developed.
  The same is true with microengineering, which is another incredible 
field. We have to do that, too. They need to use some microengineering 
aspects in replacing parts of nuclear weapons, to keep them safe. So we 
have to have facilities. We are in the process of building facilities--
the greatest in the world--to take microengineering and develop it.
  Microengineering, to put it in a simple way, is a wafer we use now 
for computers. The wafer we are talking about in microengineering 
contains on it thousands of machines, or engines. These little machines 
can be formulated to work, one with the other, on a wafer. When you see 
it with a magnifying glass, you say what in the world is next for 
humankind, and what are they going to do with these? Nobody knows yet, 
but it will be part of the next generation. Perhaps medical science 
will use them. Perhaps it will be injected into the human body and 
these little machines will go to work and do things in the body, or for 
the body, such as clean out parts around the heart by just eating them 
up. We don't know. But those are things that are in these laboratories. 
We get excited when we hear and see them.
  So when we fund these buildings, we are funding something great for 
our country. People don't believe us and they think maybe we should not 
be doing some of it, but we have been generally prevailing. The Senate 
has been saying let's do it, let's keep on.
  Madam President, we are finished for the evening. We have nothing 
else to do, and we have no indication that anybody else wants to do 
anything. From my standpoint, I am going to finish now.

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