Energy And Water Development And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010 - Conference Report - Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I wish to speak about the conference report we are currently discussing, but I want to first take a second to commend the Senator from Delaware for his fine effort over these many months to continue to call to the attention of America wonderful people who have committed their life to make the lives of other Americans better. He has done a wonderful job, and this is just one more example of both the Senator's job of bringing the news to all of America but also the story of a wonderful individual who has committed his life to improving our great Nation.

Madam President, I would like to spend a moment thanking the Senators from North Dakota and from Utah for their hard work on this bill we are currently considering. It represents a truly bipartisan effort. The energy investments in this bill will foster technological innovations and will harness the creativity and hard work of the American people. I believe it will help us move forward on clean coal technology. It will also promote energy efficiency and accelerate research into renewable energy.

I want to highlight one issue in particular, if I could, and it deals with our domestic uranium production. The uranium industry provides good-paying jobs across the country, and certainly good-paying jobs in Wyoming. A strong uranium workforce is essential to expanding America's nuclear energy capacity. Uranium production means American jobs and American energy.

In August, the Department of Energy proposed transferring--transferring--a significant amount of uranium to the U.S. Enrichment Corporation. The uranium transfer was designed and intended to pay for an environmental cleanup at a facility in Portsmouth, OH.

This is a laudable goal. Unfortunately, the proposal of the Department of Energy would have serious unintended consequences. The proposed transfer would flood the uranium market, artificially forcing down spot prices for uranium, and create significant uncertainty in the marketplace. This action would have a devastating impact on domestic uranium mining. It would cost plenty of jobs in my home State of Wyoming but also jobs all across the United States. It would undercut an integral part of America's energy portfolio.

The Department's plan, in my opinion, is shortsighted and lacks common sense. Why create jobs in one State by killing jobs in another State? The environmental cleanup can be accomplished without hurting jobs in Wyoming and elsewhere.

The conferees recognized the problems with the proposal of the Department of Energy. The conference report directs the Government Accountability Office to evaluate the Department's management of its excess uranium supplies. The bill increases funding for the Portsmouth facility and the cleanup. These steps provide the opportunity to address the necessary environmental cleanup issue without causing the collateral damage in other States.

So I thank the Senators from North Dakota and Utah for their work to address this problem. The Department of Energy should rethink its uranium transfer proposal. By working within the framework of the Excess Uranium Management Plan, the Department can get maximum value for its uranium and fund the cleanup of Portsmouth without hurting jobs--good jobs--in other States.

With that, Madam President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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