{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140919154353/http://whitfield.house.gov/press-release/statement-kentucky-delegation-paducah-doe-site", "Statement from Kentucky Delegation on Paducah DOE Site", "2013-11-27", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "KY", "Edward Whitfield", "W000413", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Kentucky Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul and Congressman Ed Whitfield (KY-01) today released the following statement regarding General Electric\u2019s (GE) request for offer (RFO) submittal being selected by the Department of Energy (DOE) at the Paducah DOE Site.\u00a0 The announcement follows the delegation\u2019s November 14th meeting with DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz in which they pressed for a final decision to be made.\n\u201cWhen it became clear that DOE would ultimately close the Gaseous Diffusion Plant, we aggressively sought out partners with Paducah\u2019s long-term economic interests in mind.\u00a0 Specifically, we worked to ensure the Paducah community would be the benefactor of any future development using the DOE-owned depleted uranium tails.\u00a0 GE made a commitment to Paducah early on, and we are pleased that Global Laser Enrichment has been chosen to lead Paducah \u2013 our proud Atomic City \u2013 into an exciting chapter involving state-of-the-art laser enrichment technology.\n\u201cWe have been encouraged by GE\u2019s commitment to Paducah.\u00a0 It is our understanding that GE proposes to invest over $1 billion to create a state-of-the-art laser enrichment facility at the DOE site that will create thousands of construction jobs, and hundreds of permanent jobs at a future GE facility.\u00a0 From a national perspective, the proposal seeks to save the federal government money in cost reduction and revive the U.S. domestic nuclear supply chain while likely generating billions of dollars in new tax revenues for the local, state, and federal government.\n\u201cPaducah is a proud city, and we are thrilled GE has placed its confidence in the people of Paducah to host this new state-of-the-art facility.\u00a0 Paducah has a bright future ahead, and we are genuinely grateful to be a part of it.\u201d\nTimeline of the Kentucky delegation\u2019s efforts for background:\nMay 15, 2012: The delegation announces a plan to extend the life of the gaseous diffusion plant by one year, extending 1,200 jobs while saving the taxpayers money.\nMay 13, 2013:\u00a0 The Kentucky delegation calls on the Department of Energy to develop a long-term solution for the Paducah DOE site. \u00a0\nMay 24, 2013:\u00a0 Upon learning that United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) would not be continuing operations at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, the delegation requests a meeting with Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz to express the urgency of developing a long-term solution for the Paducah DOE site.\u00a0 They also express their disappointment with the Obama Administration\u2019s inability to come up with an agreement to extend operations at the Paducah Plant.\nJune 4, 2013:\u00a0 The delegation meets with Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Ernest Moniz and Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman to discuss the long-term future of the DOE site. The delegation, on behalf of the community, which was still reeling from the DOE\u2019s recent announcement not to extend the United States Enrichment Corporation\u2019s (USEC) operation, stressed the importance of DOE's commitment to cleanup and utilizing the tails and other assets located in Paducah to secure a long-term future for the site.\nSeptember 12, 2013: Paducah community leaders meet with Secretary Ernest Moniz. The main topics of discussion were finding a long-term solution for private sector development and accelerating cleanup activities at the Paducah Department of Energy (DOE) site.\nNovember 14, 2013: The delegation meets with Secretary Ernest Moniz to obtain an update on DOE\u2019s efforts to utilize the depleted uranium tails for economic development in Paducah. We are encouraged by Secretary Moniz\u2019s comments today that using DOE\u2019s depleted uranium assets for development in Paducah \u2018remains a very important criteria\u2019 to the Department of Energy as they finalize their decision on the request for offers process.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140919154353/http://whitfield.house.gov/press-release/statement-kentucky-delegation-paducah-doe-site"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1458189692348242, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}