Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Ms. ROSEN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of our amendment, which would strike funding for the Yucca Mountain project.

Like the vast majority of Nevadans, I firmly oppose any attempt to turn my State into the Nation's nuclear waste dump. Dumping nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain wouldn't only endanger the health and safety of my constituents, who live just 90 miles away in the Las Vegas Valley, it would threaten millions of Americans in 44 States.

This ill-conceived plan would mean transporting tens of thousands of metric tons of radioactive waste across this country. Those shipments of hazardous material would travel on our highways and railways to Nevada through over 329 congressional districts on a weekly basis for more than 50 years.

Finally, reviving Yucca Mountain would jeopardize military testing and training at our defense facilities.

Our amendment would strike $190 million for the licensing for this administration's plan to turn Nevada into a dumping ground. That is the bulk of the funding for this dangerous failure of a project. We shouldn't waste another dime of taxpayer money on failed efforts to try to send nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain.

It is time to move on from this reckless and costly project, so I urge my colleagues to support our amendment to remove this licensing funding and, instead, work with us on alternative solutions that repurpose Yucca Mountain into something that can create jobs and keep our families safe.

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