Joe Barton United Quotations

No one in the United States has become seriously ill or has died because of any kind of accident at a civilian nuclear power plant.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is continually reviewing its safety plan for the 100-plus operating civilian nuclear reactors in the United States. And when those plants were put into operation, they were required to have double and triple redundant safety systems.

Releasing an equivalent amount of oil from the reserve for a short period of time will help keep fuel supplies adequate, not just for the Gulf Coast area, but for all the United States.

In 1981, there were 324 operating refineries in the boundaries of the United States. Today there are 148. Do the math. There are a lot of reasons for it, but one of the reasons is the law as it exists today, ... What company's board of directors in its right mind would want to go through this complicated process and tie up billions of dollars for years and years if they weren't certain whether this process would wrap up in a timely fashion?

It is unfortunate that it takes a hurricane like Katrina or Rita to show us just how acute the problem is. Now is the time to start to correct this problem and build more refineries in the United States.