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Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act of 2017

Floor Speech

Date: May 10, 2018
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Energy Environment

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Mrs. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 3053, the Nuclear Waste Policy Amendments Act.

Finding a way forward on the future of our Nation's nuclear waste storage is no easy task. But I believe we have arrived at a bipartisan agreement on nuclear waste storage that we need to advance today to address this issue.

I would first like to thank Chairman Walden and Ranking Member Pallone, and Chairman Shimkus and Ranking Member Tonko for their outstanding leadership, and thank all of my colleagues who worked on this in committee because it wasn't easy, but we worked together in a bipartisan way.

This bill will authorize the Department of Energy to establish and maintain interim storage facilities to hold nuclear waste until there is a clear decision on the national repository.

Also, included in this bill is an amendment I offered at the full committee with my good friend, Fred Upton. This important amendment expresses the sense of the Congress that the governments of the United States and Canada should not allow permanent or long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel or other radioactive waste near the Great Lakes.

Mr. Upton and I were proud to get this amendment included on behalf of every Member of the Great Lakes region.

The Great Lakes account for 20 percent of the world's fresh water supply, and it is absolutely critical for millions of Americans who rely on them for drinking water, jobs, and their way of life.

Nearly 1/10th of the U.S. population lives in the Great Lakes Basin, and more than 35 million people, with approximately 24 million of them being Americans, rely on the Great Lakes.

This provision reinforces the importance of the healthy Great Lakes Basin, free of nuclear storage.

Mr. Chairman, I commend all of my colleagues one more time for their good work in crafting a bipartisan agreement that will ensure nuclear waste is stored at secure storage facilities.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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