Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025

Floor Speech

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Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Chair, I thank the gentleman from South Carolina for yielding.

Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to amendment No. 11 offered by Mr. Garamendi, which would prohibit funding for plutonium pit production at the Savannah River Site.

Because of the policies of the current administration, this world is more dangerous today than probably any time in recent history.

The Savannah River Site, also known as SRS, is a Department of Energy site conducting important work to defend our national security. It employs thousands of constituents in Georgia's 12th District.

Currently under construction at the Savannah River Site is the Savannah River Plutonium Processing Facility. When construction is completed, this facility will produce at least 50 of the 80 new pits per year required by the Department of Defense to sustain the United States' nuclear weapons stockpile. It is called strength through peace or peace through strength.

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Mr. ALLEN. Mr. Chair, this shortsighted amendment would critically threaten this urgent national security mission by prohibiting funding for the Savannah River Plutonium Modernization Program, which funds facility construction, workforce development, process design, and other critical functions to ensure SRS can begin producing pits as quickly as possible once the construction is complete.

The Savannah River Site is committed to nuclear modernization to ensure America's nuclear deterrent is safe and reliable. To say otherwise is simply false. This program is critical to our national defense, and I urge a ``no'' vote on amendment No. 11.

Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Duncan).

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