Conference Report on H.R. 2419, Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act, 2006
CONFERENCE REPORT ON H.R. 2419, ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2006 -- (House of Representatives - November 09, 2005)
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Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this conference report.
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Once again this year, the bill before us is the result of a bi-partisan atmosphere in the Energy and Water Subcommittee that is fostered by Chairman HOBSON and his ranking member--Mr. VISCLOSKY. I want to thank both of them for the manner in which they approach the many issues before the committee and for producing a bill that will pass today with little or no opposition.
First, the Energy and Water bill begins a new chapter in the history of the Army Corps of Engineers which will lead to better budgeting, more accountability, and the completion of high-priority projects in a quicker timeframe.
I want to commend Chairman HOBSON for his insistence on reforms to the Corps budgeting process and for demanding greater accountability from the Corps to Congress and the American people.
Second, the bill makes tremendous investments in our nation's science and energy-related programs. Our National Laboratories, under this bill, will continue and expand their cutting edge work on the many pressing scientific challenges facing our Nation. Perhaps even more important in a time of high energy prices, this bill will expand our Nation's efforts to become less dependent on foreign sources of energy.
For my home state of Idaho, this bill will provide a boost to the Idaho National Laboratory's ongoing work to design and build a new generation of nuclear reactors, close the nuclear fuel cycle, protect our Nation's critical infrastructure from cyber-based attacks, and secure radioactive nuclear materials from those who would do us harm.
Finally, this bill continues our Nation's efforts to establish a long-term repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. While the Yucca Mountain funding in the bill represents an overall decrease from last year, it still provides $500 million to move the project forward toward a license application and construction.
I'm committed to seeing Yucca Mountain finalized and I know Chairman HOBSON is as well. I remain hopeful that the current challenges facing the program will soon be overcome and that an aggressive schedule for completion of the project can be adopted in the very near future.
In closing, I want to again recognize the bi-partisan manner in which this bill was written and acknowledge the tremendous work of all of the staff on the Subcommittee.
I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
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