House of Representatives Floor Statement, Nuclear Waste and the Atomic Train Movie, May 12, 1999 (2 pages)

House of Representatives Floor Statement Commerce Committee Legislation to Dump Nuclear Waste in Nevada April 21, 1999 (Ms. BERKLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.) Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, this Congress is on the verge of making a monumental mistake. As we speak, the House Committee on Commerce is trying to pass legislation that would dump more than 70,000 tons of lethal nuclear waste just 90 miles from my hometown, Las Vegas, home to over 1 million men, women, and children. What is worse, this bill proposes to move this waste on our nation's highways and rail lines through 43 States through the backyards of 50 million Americans. Mr. Speaker, it is estimated that this mobile Chernobyl will create between 200 and 400 potential deadly nuclear accidents. I ask my colleagues if such an accident occurred in their district and they voted for this legislation, what possible explanation could they give their constituents? Who would they send to clean up the radioactive mess, or care for the radioactive injured? There is an alternative. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson has come up with a good plan to keep the deadly radioactive waste off our nation's highways and railways. He wants the Energy Department to take control of nuclear waste at our nation's reactor sites. Please vote against this horrible mobile Chernobyl before it causes a nuclear accident. House of Representatives Floor Statement NUCLEAR WASTE AND THE ATOMIC TRAIN MOVIE May 12, 1999 (Ms. BERKLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.) Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, not only are the nuclear power industry lobbyists trying to conquer common sense with dollars in Congress, they are trying to do the same thing to the entertainment industry. I was shocked and dismayed to read in The Washington Post TV column that NBC has caved in to nuclear industry pressure and politely changed the name of the atomic train's cargo from nuclear waste to hazardous materials. What semantic nonsense. I f anyone is able to tell the difference between the two, it would be the people of the State of Nevada, who are fighting a bill that would dump all of the Nation's nuclear waste in our backyard, 77,000 tons of it. This just is not Nevada's fight. Most of America would be put at risk by H.R. 45, the Nuclear Waste Transport bill. On April 28 I sent a ^Dear Colleague1 letter to my fellow Members of Congress, pointing out that although the movie is fiction, the threat is real Let me ask my colleagues this: When the first inevitable crash occurs, where would they want to be living? Would they want to be living in that neighborhood? I challenge NBC to stand up for public health and safety rather than caving in to the nuclear power industry lobbyists.