Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would direct the Army Corps to consider the historic and national significance of dredging projects as the Corps makes its funding decisions.

In my area, this amendment will provide much-needed support for the completion of the Plymouth Harbor dredging project in time for the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing in Plymouth and Provincetown, Massachusetts.

The year 2020 will be a momentous year for our country, as we commemorate the 400th anniversary of the settlement at Plymouth by the Pilgrims, the vital contributions of the Aquinnah and Mashpee Wampanoag Tribes, and the significant events that followed, including the signing of the Mayflower Compact, the 50-year Pilgrim-Wampanoag peace treaty, and, of course, the first Thanksgiving.

For my entire time in Congress, I have worked closely with my constituents to prepare for this commemoration of Plymouth 400. The Plymouth Harbor dredging project has always been at the heart of these preparations.

The dredging project is required ahead of the return to Plymouth of the fully restored Mayflower II, a full-scale replica of the original ship that brought the Pilgrims to Cape Cod in 1620. The Mayflower II cannot return to her home in Plymouth Harbor unless much-needed dredging work is completed.

We also anticipate a maritime salute to mark the return of the Mayflower II as part of the commemoration, and the flotilla will need safe passage in the harbor.

Furthermore, an uptick in marine traffic is also expected as Americans and visitors from around the world travel to Plymouth to participate in the 2020 celebration. It is therefore critical for navigational safety concerns that this dredging occur.

This amendment will help ensure that one of the final pieces of the 2020 commemoration is completed and in place. We anticipate an exceedingly memorable year for the people of our community, for visitors across the country, and for a significant number of international visitors as well.

Mr. Chair, I look forward to the completion of this project ahead of the commemoration, which also, it is important to note, will bring in significant added revenue and jobs.

I thank the chairman, and I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman and staff for their cooperation. And I also invite them to come to Plymouth in 2020 and enjoy what will be an amazing international celebration and a celebration of the beginning of our country as well.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chairman, my amendment seeks to provide adequate resources for the marine and hydrokinetic energy resource supported by the Department of Energy's Water Power Technologies Office.

Renewable power offers exciting and important security opportunities for our energy future here in the United States. My amendment would allocate resources to support these efforts, including for the development of pilot project plans, development of prototype turbines and associated undersea cables, as well as environmental impact assessments.

In my district, there is an important research already underway in marine and hydrokinetic energy technologies to tap the power of ocean waves, tides, and currents to generate electricity.

For example, the Marine Energy Renewable Collaborative of New England created the first permanent tidal power testing station in the entire United States. This state-of-the-art testing station is collecting new and valuable data every day on tidal power. Companies like MERCO in Marion, Massachusetts, and Littoral Power in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, are also pursuing this cutting-edge science in this emerging field of energy projection.

Southeastern Massachusetts is a leader in the maritime economy. The research and technologies being developed currently will enhance our energy security for the future. We must make these investments today to ensure our security, health, and economic competitiveness going forward.

The power supplied by these marine and hydrokinetic technologies is clean, predictable, and domestic. These technologies are environmentally friendly and don't rely on the importation of energy from foreign sources. They give us even more flexibility to keep our energy prices low for families and businesses. Cheaper energy means keeping business operating costs low so they can invest in more employees and on products and research.

Supporting research in these technologies also means investigating the potential positive and negative effects that they might hold. We need to know more about water quality, our cultural and historic sites, our electromagnetic devices, and our shellfish, fish stocks, marine habitats, and large mammals.

This is a very important program for my region and for the country. I thank my colleagues.

I will say, this is so technologically advanced, this is a real tongue twister as I have gone through this whole thing, but don't let that dissuade anyone going forward. This is the future. This is where economic growth is already occurring in our region. We should do everything in our power to help the development of this power.

Mr. Chairman,

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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank Chairman Simpson for that opportunity to work together. I think we can work together going forward in the short term. Perhaps as this goes to conference, we can look at working together in the long-term and really investigating the importance of this new energy that can be developed here in the United States so cleanly.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chairman, I withdraw my amendment.

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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chairman, there are people in our country who are looking for jobs. We also have in our country jobs that are looking for people. So this matches that up.

Research and development is important, but without people to be trained to go forward it will come to no avail in our country. It is important for our region; it is important for our country.

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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chair, I thank Chairman Simpson for yielding me additional time. This gives me a brief time to tell how it is important in my region as well as how real it is in our region.

In my district, a major offshore wind project just got the green light to build an 800-megawatt wind farm 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard. It is going to bring with it hundreds and hundreds of new, high-quality job opportunities in southeastern Massachusetts.

This requires skilled labor, and the amendment would try to connect those workers with these skills and the training they need to take advantage of these opportunities to these new jobs.

This is something that has to be done ahead of time in our country. One of the biggest weaknesses we do have, I think, economically, is that we have to prepare for the jobs that are here that we don't have people for and the jobs that will grow that we don't have enough people for. It is an opportunity to do this.

I thank the chairman again for yielding the time, and I thank the leadership of the gentlewoman from Massachusetts, Ms. Tsongas.
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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chairman, my amendment allocates resources for additional research into innovative technologies and processes for safe and secure storage, treatment, transportation, and disposal of spent nuclear fuel from civilian nuclear reactors.

Five nuclear power plants have retired since 2013. Six more across the country, including the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in my district, are slated to retire just in the next few years.

This is also timely, because just last month, this House passed, by a margin of 340-72, a bill to improve nuclear waste storage.

Reactors can shut down, but that doesn't mean there is a safe, secure plan for spent fuel stored onsite.

Pilgrim has been operating for over 45 years in Massachusetts, and its spent fuel has been stored there ever since.

The Pilgrim Plant is slated to retire in 2019, almost exactly 1 year from today. The spent fuel there needs to be addressed. My community in Plymouth and those around the country are asking legitimate questions on how the safety and security of these materials can be increased.

We have an opportunity to dig deeper into these questions and find better answers for my constituents and for people around the country who have a nuclear power plant nearby.

New advanced research should examine how the safety and security of spent fuel pools can be improved.

Additionally, the safe transfer of materials to dry casks deserves to be reexamined, as does the design and long-term integrity of dry casks. Furthermore, research into the transportation and ultimate disposal of spent fuel is crucial in identifying the best and safest long-term solutions. They too need to be examined and improved.

My amendment supports further research into these areas so that when nuclear energy is part of our communities, we are able to ensure, as best we can, that spent nuclear fuel is secure and not posing unnecessary threats.

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleagues for their consideration of this amendment and urge their support.

Mr. Chair,

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Mr. KEATING. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

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