Energy And Water Development And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008

Floor Speech

ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2008 -- (House of Representatives - June 19, 2007)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Chairman, I have tremendous respect for our chairman and ranking member and realize the very difficult undertaking they have had in putting this bill together and balancing the number of important priorities within it. Unfortunately, the bill before us would drastically cut the President's request to $405 million for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, GNEP, initiative to $120 million. This amounts to a $285 million reduction from the President's request for GNEP.

At the same time, this bill goes well above the President's request for the Department of Energy science account. The President's request for the science account was already a 15.8 percent increase above the fiscal 2007 level. On top of this, the House bill provides another $116 million above the administration's request. My amendment would provide an additional $80 million for the GNEP initiative, offset by an $80 million decrease in the science account.

If we are going to be serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, addressing climate change and reducing our dependence on foreign oil, we need to allow GNEP to proceed in a meaningful capacity. To accomplish these objectives, we need to diversify our energy supply and increase energy efficiency and conservation. Nuclear energy is a vital component to diversifying our energy supply and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And in order for the nuclear renaissance to become a reality, we must address the spent fuel issue, which is what GNEP is all about.

Recycling spent nuclear fuel is a way to reduce by about 95 percent the volume of waste that would have to be disposed of at the Yucca Mountain repository. Recycling would also enable us to reduce the radioactive life of this material from millions of years to thousands. Whether you support nuclear energy or not, these two points should be very positive if we are going to take better care of our environment.

Since the 1970s, the United States has been falling behind the world in nuclear technology. It is vital that we fund this program at a sufficient level that allows the United States to reestablish itself as a leader in the field.

I appreciate the chairman and ranking member's work on this important issue. I would hope for some favorable comments from them. But I am going to at the end of this discussion ask for unanimous consent to withdraw my amendment in hopes that we can work it out at a later date.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment, and I thank the chairman for his time and consideration of this and hope that we can work together to make GNEP a reality in a meaningful, bipartisan way so that the United States can continue to be a world leader, not just in nuclear energy but in energy independence from foreign oil.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source