Issue Position: The United States Enrichment Corporation
Issue Position
The United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) and the American Centrifuge Plant at Piketon, Ohio
I was shocked last year when the federal government denied the loan guarantee that would have allowed USEC to proceed with the American Centrifuge Plant. Even though our President had promised to support us and help create jobs in our blighted local economy, and even though he had specifically spelled out loan guarantees as a means to make this happen, in this one inexplicable act of denial he turned his back on southern Ohio.
The impact was immediate. Instead of picking up hundreds of real, permanent jobs last summer, people were laid off! Instead of generating thousands of high-tech jobs that would have been the envy of the world, instead of invigorating our tax base for our schools and our decaying infrastructure, southern Ohio got the short end of the stick!
My dad, Jesse Johnson, worked at the A-Plant in Piketon for over 40 years as a blue collar working man. That job fed our family. It gave Mom and my little sister and me a stable life. Today, thousands of kids in southern Ohio could have this same opportunity. Thousands of families could thrive!
Are we serious about decreasing our dependence on foreign oil? If we are, then America needs all the energy it can get, and it needs that energy NOW! Nuclear is a smart part of the solution. Southern Ohio can help our nation regain its nuclear edge, and we can do it in a cleaner, safer way than ever before. We, the people of southern Ohio, stand ready to help our nation, just as we have always done.
The Obama administration is dead wrong on USEC. In my opinion, his administration can no longer be trusted when it says that it wants jobs for people who live in rural areas, such as ours. If it did, then how much easier could it be than to guarantee this loan and create thousands of REAL jobs through the American Centrifuge Project?
What an absolute mess. What a crying shame. Enough is enough!
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