[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4930]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    YUCCA MOUNTAIN AND BUFFETT RULE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Nevada (Ms. Berkley) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. BERKLEY. I'm here to talk about the Buffett bill, but I just 
cannot allow what Mr. Shimkus has just said to go unresponded to 
because it's such an important issue for the people of the State of 
Nevada.
  The so-called nuclear act that he discussed that was passed in '82 
and amended in '87 is known in Nevada as the ``screw Nevada bill,'' and 
let me tell you what it is. It's a proposal that would ship 77,000 tons 
of toxic radioactive nuclear waste across 43 States to be buried in a 
hole in the Nevada desert, which is 90 miles from the major population 
center of Las Vegas, where we have groundwater issues, seismic 
activity, and volcanic activity. The EPA cannot come up with any 
radiation standards that would protect the people of the State of 
Nevada or anyone else in this country.
  Let me tell you, originally, when they came up with this nonsensical 
plan, which is purely political, that it has nothing to do with 
science. They said that we could store the rods, the nuclear waste, in 
Yucca Mountain with no problem, leave it there. Then we realized that 
that wouldn't work because of the groundwater. So then we decided that 
they would put their nuclear waste in canisters. But what do you know, 
there are no canisters that currently exist that can safely store this 
stuff. Then they came up with shields that would go around the 
canisters that don't exist to be put into Yucca Mountain.
  Then the last Republican Secretary of Energy talked about an army of 
robots that would walk down Yucca Mountain and be able to check on the 
nuclear waste while it's leaking and leaching into the groundwater. 
It's a ridiculous proposal, and it's time to go to Plan B because Plan 
A isn't going to happen. Seventy-seven percent of the people of the 
State of Nevada do not want nuclear waste stored at Yucca Mountain. End 
of that.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my deep disappointment with 
yesterday's vote in the United States Senate. Once again, Senate 
Republicans sided with Wall Street millionaires against the interests 
of struggling middle class families throughout Nevada. The Buffett rule 
is simple, and it's common sense.
  It means if you are a housekeeper, a nurse, a blackjack dealer, or a 
waitress, or any other middle class professional, you shouldn't pay 
higher tax rates than multi-millionaires who own yachts and travel in 
private jets. It means that if you are a Nevadan living paycheck to 
paycheck, you shouldn't be carrying the burden for Wall Street hedge 
fund managers and Big Oil company executives.
  The Senators who voted against basic tax fairness yesterday need to 
spend a little more time prioritizing the needs of hardworking 
Nevadans. They're struggling. These are the people that are struggling 
to put food on the table, to fill up their cars with gas, and to pay 
their mortgage or their rent.
  The fact that the wealthiest people in this country pay their taxes 
at a lower tax rate than their secretaries and their chauffeurs doesn't 
pass the smell test. It stinks, and that's why I'm proud to announce 
that I'm a cosponsor of the Buffett rule in the House, and I urge all 
of my colleagues to join me and let's bring some fundamental tax 
fairness to the people of the United States of America. Seventy-two 
percent of the American people agree with me that the Buffett rule 
should be made into law.

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