releases: https://www.heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=F78BF374-12F0-4C31-BEB1-671AEB199C5D
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://www.heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=F78BF374-12F0-4C31-BEB1-671AEB199C5D | Heller Keeps Funding to Revive Yucca Mountain Out of Reconciled Appropriations Bill Released Today | 2018-09-10 | 2018 | 2018-09 | Republican | House | NV | Dean Heller | H001041 | www.heller.senate.gov | legacy | WASHINGTON Following the release of the conference report on theEnergy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill,U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) today announced that he once again successfully worked to keep funding to revive Yucca Mountain out of the reconciled bill. While the version of the bill approved by the U.S. House of Representatives included nearly $268 million in funding for Yucca Mountain, $100 million more than what was requested,Heller worked closely with the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee to keep that funding out of the U.S. Senate's version of the bill. He later urgedU.S. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) and U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) to maintain that position in the reconciled version of the bill, which was released today. That letter is available HERE. In April,Heller outlined his case not tofund the budget requests to support licensing activities at the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository to his colleagues in the U.S. Senate.In aletterto U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Heller expressed his strong opposition to the $120 million request in DOE's budget to revive Yucca Mountain, stating that the failed project has already wasted billions of taxpayer dollars. That same month, Heller expressed his concern to Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Feinstein about the $48 million request in NRC's budget for Yucca Mountain, and he encouraged them to instead devote resources to consent-based siting for the storage of nuclear waste. In hisletter,Heller cited his correspondence with NRC Chairman Svinicki regarding safety concerns as well as his request for a commitment from the NRC to implement procedural safeguards. Heller also stopped the U.S.House of Representatives efforts toadvancefunding that would restart the licensing process atYucca Mountainlast year. Once again, the U.S. House of Representatives has failed in its relentless pursuit to turn Nevada into our nation's nuclear waste dump,said Heller.Despite the U.S. House of Representatives approval of more than $250 million to support licensing activities at Yucca Mountain and $30 million to store defense nuclear waste at Yucca, I've been able to stop their efforts in the U.S. Senate.I thank Chairman Shelby and Chairman Alexander as well as my colleagues on the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee for working with me to ensure that not one more taxpayer dollar will be spent on this failed project. As long as I'm in the U.S. Senate, you can count on me to never let up on my fight to keep nuclear waste out of the state of Nevada. Background: Timeline of Heller's previous work to stopYuccaMountain: On July 6, 2018,Heller contacted U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) about maintaining the position of not authorizing funding for Yucca Mountain in the final conference report for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). On July 2, 2018, Hellerwrote U.S. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) and U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) thanking them for not funding Yucca Mountain in the minibus and urging them not to fund any activities related to Yucca Mountain in the conference report. On April 13, 2018, Heller contacted U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) andurged him to exclude any language that authorizes funding forYuccaMountain from the National Defense Authorization Act. On April 13, 2018, Heller urged U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)not to fund the DOE budget request for $120 million to reviveYuccaMountain. On April 24, 2018, in aletter submitted to Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Heller expressed his strong opposition to funding the NRC andsaid he remains staunchly opposedto any federal efforts to reviveYuccaMountain. On March 21, 2018,during a U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing with Office of Managementand Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney, U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) highlighted the Administration's reckless and fiscally irresponsible pursuit ofYuccaMountain, stating that the federal government has already wasted billions of dollars on the project. When asked about alternative solutions to the country's nuclear waste problem,Director Mulvaney told Heller that he is open-minded to other resolutionsand suggested they work together to find one. On March 20, 2018,in a lettersubmitted to Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)andRanking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Heller argued thatYuccaMountain poses numerous health and safety risks to the people of southern Nevada and potentially catastrophic financial risks to the state's tourism economy.He urged them not to fund the $120 million to restart the repository licensing process forYuccaMountain. On March 20, 2018, Heller discussed DOE's budget requestwith Secretary Perryat a U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing.Heller noted that the $120 million requested to fund licensing activities atYuccaMountain was denied last year and that it will be denied again this year. On September 26, 2017, Hellerargued thatYuccaMountain is not the solution to our country's nuclear waste problem in written testimony submitted to the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Interior, Energy, and Environment. On July 20, 2017, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee advanced the Senate's Energy and Water Appropriations bill andunlike the version that passed the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, the Senate bill did not include funding forYuccaMountain. On July 28, 2017,the Senate's Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee advanced a bill that did not include the $120 million requested by the Department of Energy (DOE) to reviveYuccaMountain. On June 21, 2017,Heller submitted testimony to the U.S. Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommitteeexpressing his vehement opposition to theYuccaMountain proposal. On June 20, 2017, Hellerreacted to Secretary Perry's comments at a U.S. Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, characterizing them as a blatant disregard for the state of Nevada. On June 6, 2017, Hellerexpressed concern after the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources voted to advance Dan Brouillette's nominationfor the deputy secretary position at the Department of Energy (DOE), the federal agency that has jurisdiction over the licensing activities atYuccaMountain. On May 26, 2017, Hellerreacted to the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) report detailing the lengthy and costlyYuccaMountainlicensing process. On May 25, 2017, Hellerspoke on the U.S. Senate floor and reiterated his concern with the President's 2018 Fiscal Year budget request that included $120 million to restart the licensing activities forYuccaMountain. On May 18, 2017,Heller spoke on the U.S. Senate floor to highlight the threat thatYuccaMountain poses not only to Nevada, but the entire country. On May 12, 2017,Heller spoke on the U.S. Senate floor to highlightYuccaMountain's threat to the Las Vegas economy. On April 27, 2017,Heller reaffirmed his staunch opposition to relicensing theYuccaMountain nuclear repository to Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry. On April 26, 2017,Heller testified before a U.S.House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment hearingon legislation to reviveYuccaMountain. On March 29, 2017,Heller urged the Administration to drop itsYuccaMountain proposal, included in its FY2018 budget request. On March 16, 2017,Heller released a statement on the Administration's FY2018 budget request, which included a proposal to reviveYuccaMountain. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |