As a nation we are too dependent on foreign sources for energy, and we must begin to become more self-sufficient through increased domestic production, conservation, and reliance on alternative and renewable energy sources. My bill provides incentives for more domestic production, allows states to have more control over energy activity off their coasts, and encourages production from new energy sources. My bill helps to lower energy costs, begins to reduce dependence on foreign sources, and allows states like Louisiana to share in the benefits from energy production. Louisiana's coastlines have borne the brunt of the consequences of energy exploration for decades, and this legislation will help restore our coastlines for generations to come.

The Republican Leadership has been affected by the same arrogant virus that has consumed the Administration in putting up a resolution that is not amendable.  It’s yet again the “my-way-or the highway,

I hope the President will deliver a clear message in Baghdad: now that a democratic government has been elected and the Al Qaeda leader in Iraq has been killed, it's time for American troops to begin to come home.

We need to view disengagement as part of the solution in Iraq. Our overwhelming military presence and our open-ended military commitment have fueled the insurgency and made America a crutch for the Iraqi government.

If America really wants the new Iraqi government to succeed, we must begin to disengage from Iraq, and they from us. The Iraqi government must begin to make its own decisions, make necessary compromises to avoid full-scale civil war, and take responsibility for its own future.

I introduced the Protection for Participants in Research Act of 2006, to provide clear and consistent protections for human subjects who take part in clinical trials. This act provides clear guidelines to researchers and ensures that the United States can continue to lead the way in medical research.

Now more than ever, our nation’s miners need and deserve a strong leader at the head of the Mine Safety Health Administration. Mr. Stickler has an abysmal record on mine safety and he is not the right person for the job. During his career as a coal industry executive, he focused on profits and production, not on worker safety With the recent passage of the mine safety legislation, it is even more important that we have an Assistant Secretary who will vigorously lead the agency and put these new protections in place quickly. I will vote no on Mr. Stickler’s nomination and I will urge my colleagues to do the same.

The Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit is a huge cost-saver for our seniors and I do not want people who listened to political criticism of the program to be penalized.

Israel is one of the United States strongest allies in the Middle East. The British National Association of Teachers in Furtherance of Higher Education's (NATFHE) resolution is highly objectionable in the face of the shared democratic history of the U.S., England, and Israel. Such boycotts undermine academic freedom and open exchange and completely disregard the courageous strides towards peace that Israel has made, including the difficult Gaza withdrawal and recognition of a two-state solution. Congressman Pence and I, in the strongest terms, want to prevent further attack of Israel via its academia institutions and we object to any comparison to that of an apartheid regime. This latest movement by NATFHE furthers existing tensions already present between Israelis and Palestinians. NATFHE's resolution will do nothing but intensify and continue discriminatory measures within the academic world in which the traditional open dialogue between colleagues has been compromised.

I think that the American people are quite relieved that the terrorists are interned in Guantanamo, not in the United States. I do not think the suicides will generate any sympathy for them and I think that this is one of the issues which works in Bush's favor. Iraq is costing him votes. But anything about homeland security, including Guantanamo, gains him support.

In 2002, Yucca Mountain was certified as the site for the nation's repository for spent nuclear fuel; however, currently, there is no projected date on which the facility's operations will commence. The Nuclear Waste Act set an original goal of 1998 for opening a repository, and by missing that date, the Department of Energy (DOE) was found in breach of that obligation. More recently, the Department had indicated that it hoped to file a license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) by December 2004 and to begin accepting waste in 2010. The target for the license application was missed and the Department no longer believes that the facility will be open in 2010.In addition, the long standing issue of funding for the Yucca Mountain project continues to be of concern. While the balance in the Nuclear Waste Fund is currently $19 billion, annual appropriations are only a fraction of the amount contributed by ratepayers.

 

As a strong supporter of the Yucca Mountain program, I am concerned about these issues which are affecting the filing of the license application and the ultimate opening of the facility.