mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman from california ( mr. waxman ) xz4004250 for yielding his time . 
i rise in support of this amendment which would strike the provision in the bill to expand the number of assistant secretaries at the department of energy , one of which being an assistant secretary for improved management of nuclear energy issues . 
why are we creating a new position for nuclear power ? 
there is no assistant secretary for gas or oil or coal . 
nuclear energy should not be elevated above all the others . 
this administration continues to push for expanded nuclear power , despite having no solution for the issue of radioactive nuclear waste disposal . 
recently , the department of energy revealed that federal employees working on the yucca mountain project deliberately falsified scientific documentation regarding water infiltration and climate studies . 
the d.c . 
circuit court of appeals , the second highest court in the land , struck down the epa 's radiation standards , which they said were inadequate for a mere 290 , 000 years . 
yet the doe continues to move forward with its license application for a dump that will never be built and continues to spend billions of dollars of taxpayers ' money while they are doing it . 
before creating an assistant secretary for nuclear issues and increasing our reliance on nuclear power , we must find a safe and scientifically sound solution to the problem of disposing of tens of thousands of tons of radioactive , toxic nuclear waste . 
mr. chairman , yucca mountain is not a solution to our current problem , nor will it address the issue of storing newly created nuclear waste . 
creating yet another layer of bureaucracy is not the answer to this nation 's energy problem , and certainly the department of energy has done nothing , nothing in its history to warrant additional funding and additional support . 
