Executive Session
EXECUTIVE SESSION -- (Senate - January 31, 2005)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
NOMINATION OF DR. SAMUEL BODMAN
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise to share some brief comments concerning the nomination of a fellow Illinoisan, Dr. Samuel Bodman, for Secretary of the United States Department of Energy.
Last week I had the opportunity to meet Secretary-designee Bodman. I learned he was born in Wheaton, IL, his mother was raised in Coffeen and his father grew up in Bement, IL, where main street is actually named Bodman Street.
I expressed to Secretary-designate Bodman a few of my concerns about national energy policy. I stressed my belief that one of our most urgent national energy priorities is increasing fuel efficiency standards. This is a critical issue and one that has been visibly absent from the administration's national energy policy. How can we claim to be serious about reducing America's dangerous dependence on foreign oil if we don't get serious about encouraging greater fuel efficiency?
We hear the same excuses all the time for failing to act: Cars will be unsafe. The technology isn't available. The truth is, the technology is available and the higher fuel efficient cars are on the road. The majority of them, however, are Japanese.
I'm lucky. Fortunately, after 6 months of waiting, we recently purchased a Ford Escape hybrid. This car achieves anywhere from 31 to 36 miles per gallon of gasoline. Clearly, the technology is there.
What is needed, I stress again, is comprehensive energy policy that places greater emphasis on conserving energy and promoting fuel efficiency rather than simply drilling more oil wells in ever more fragile wilderness areas.
I also expressed to Dr. Bodman my strong support for the energy department's research and development programs, for advancing energy technology, and for helping to maintain our Nation's leadership in advanced science.
One project I support strongly is the DOE Science Advisory Committee's highest priority recommendation, the construction of a rare isotope accelerator. This project is critically important in maintaining our Nation's position as a leader in nuclear research.
The Department of Energy is in the process now of finalizing its decision on where to place the rare isotope accelerator. Among the contenders is Argonne National Laboratory at the University of Chicago.
I am working closely with my colleagues, Speaker DENNIS HASTERT and Congresswoman JUDY BIGGERT to try to bring the rare isotope accelerator to Argonne.
First, Argonne has already built a major isotope accelerator and is the only facility in America with the experience and management already in place to get this project up and running.
Second, Argonne has the necessary infrastructure to support the project. Argonne's existing infrastructure would save the Federal Government approximately $100 million in project costs. At a time of tight budgets and spending constraints, this alone is an appealing benefit.
Finally, Argonne is located just 25 miles southwest of the Chicago Loop, close to both Midway and O'Hare International Airport, making it readily accessible to researchers around the world.
The rare isotope accelerator will allow researchers to delve into the origin of elements that make up the world. The research at this facility will provide us the opportunity to advance the application of nuclear medicine and enhance our understanding of environmental science and the biology of the Earth. This project would be an extraordinary asset to Illinois. With an initial investment of $1 billion in Illinois's economy, the rare isotope accelerator would bring 1,750 permanent jobs and 16,000 temporary construction jobs to Illinois. It would make Illinois a hub for scientific research, discovery and collaboration.
I encourage Secretary-designee Bodman to give a good look to Argonne's application. I believe strongly that he will find Argonne's expertise, success and cost-saving efforts make it the best site for this facility.
Finally, I appreciated the opportunity to discuss with Dr. Bodman my interest and strong support for the Energy Department's FutureGen project.
In the 1970's there were 71 operating coal mines in Illinois. Today, there are only 21 active mines. Over the past 30 years the economy in Southern Illinois has slowly collapsed, leaving thousands of people unemployed.
The FutureGen project will advance energy production into the future by creating an integrated sequestration and hydrogen production zero-emission fossil fuel plant.
Southern Illinois is the perfect location for such a facility. Illinois contains more than 25 percent of the Nation's total recoverable bituminous coal reserves, and it also contains deep saline aquifers, available for the sequestration of carbon dioxide. While creating a use for the high sulfur content coal in the State, the FutureGen plant would help revitalize the Southern Illinois coal industry.
I am pleased to support Dr. Bodman to be America's next Energy Secretary and I look forward to working with him and the Illinois delegation to bring this project to our State and to decrease America's dependence on foreign oil.
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