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| Wilson Statement On Energy And Water Appropriations |
July 27, 1999 |
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| Today I voted against the Energy and Water Appropriations Act. While the bill has much to recommend it, I am concerned that it emphasizes water projects at the expense of energy and will have a negative impact on the Department of Energy (DOE), and the weapons program in particular.
The vast majority of the energy and physical research and development, nuclear weapons R&D;, testing and production, environmental restoration, and waste management activities are carried out in the field. Management and administration of government-owned, contractor-operated facility contracts are the major responsibility of the DOE's eight operations offices and two special purpose field offices. Over the last three years, field staffing at these offices has been reduced by 22%. This bill directs a further 10% reduction in staff without identifying the work that no longer must be done. When we streamline and eliminate bureaucracy, we should do it from the top down, not the bottom up.
The bill proposes to eliminate Laboratory Directed Research and Development. These funds are used for cutting-edge, high-risk research that would not otherwise be performed. Technologies, like small lasers and micromachines, were too speculative to be funded by any other means at their inception. However, LDRD technologies are now critical elements to the continued U.S. compliance with international test ban treaties.
The bill also reduces overall Weapons Activities budget by $400 million. Stockpile Management cuts total $73.5 million and the tritium program is cut by $22 million. These deep cuts will significantly affect the work being done to safeguard the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal. In order to assure the continued safety and reliability of our nuclear arsenal in the absence of testing, these budgets must be at least partially restored.
Finally, the bill makes funding of DOE in the fourth quarter of next year contingent on reorganization. This Congress is working toward significant reorganization of the Department and I have supported that effort. It is likely that we will finish that work on the Defense or Intelligence Authorization Conference Reports. It is unfair to put employees in limbo, fearing for their jobs and their paychecks, in order to put pressure on ourselves to do our jobs and pass a reorganization act. That's just not right.
It is with great hesitation that I arrived at this decision. There were several provisions in the bill, included at my request, that will benefit the 1st Congressional District of New Mexico. Sandia National Labs, which receives its federal funding from this bill, provides more jobs for New Mexicans in my district that any other employer. However, I cannot in good conscience support a bill that threatens those same jobs and undermines our weapons program.
I look forward to working with my colleagues toward a conference report that rectifies these problems. The bill passed the House by a vote of X to Y. It will be reconciled with a similar bill in the Senate.
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