RICHLAND, WA– Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) welcomed Vice Chair Pete Stauber (MN-08) to Central Washington to discuss several priorities facing both the Congressional Western Caucus and the House Natural Resources Committee, from uranium and nuclear energy development to aggregate mining and infrastructure modernization.
Reps. Newhouse and Stauber joined officials from Energy Northwest and X-energy in Richland to discuss their contributions to the United States’ nuclear energy future. Earlier this year, Energy Northwest, Grant County Public Utility District, and X-energy entered into theTRi Energy Partnership, where they committed to developing the nation’s first commercial advanced nuclear reactor through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP).
The lawmakers heard about the need for both a short-term and a long-term strategy for the supply of High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) which is essential for advanced modular nuclear reactors.
“Nuclear energy is crucial for American energy independence,”said Rep. Newhouse.“Advanced modular nuclear reactors truly are the future of our nation’s baseload energy portfolio, and we must ensure we have an adequate supply of minerals like uranium in order to generate nuclear energy here in the United States. I am proud my good friend Rep. Stauber was able to meet with Energy Northwest and X-energy to learn about how they are paving the way for the next generation of commercial, carbon-free energy development.”
“The science is clear: there is no cleaner energy source than nuclear,"said Rep. Stauber."As Ranking Member of Energy and Mineral Resources, I will continue to fight to ensure we maintain a robust supply chain of domestically sourced uranium, mined and processed by Americans. Thank you to Chair Newhouse for welcoming me to tour nuclear facilities in your district and seeing the benefits nuclear energy can provide to the grid and to local communities.”
As Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, Rep. Stauber is working to ensure safe domestic development of mineral resources and aggregate.
Following the discussion on nuclear energy, Reps. Newhouse and Stauber toured a mining facility in Pasco with CRH America, the leading provider of aggregate products in the Columbia Basin.
“We have to empower American small businesses and workers to rebuild our critical infrastructure – not tie their hands with federal regulations that make it impossible to make progress,”said Rep. Newhouse.“When we talk about infrastructure, we mean REAL infrastructure – like roads, bridges, and waterways – which is crumbling across the country. Rep. Stauber and I saw firsthand how ready the folks at CRH are to continue revitalizing our infrastructure projects. They are the true investors in our communities that will help rebuild our country.”
“It was a privilege to join Chair Newhouse in touring quarries in Central Washington,"said Rep. Stauber."As we seek to repair our infrastructure, we will need to mine the stone, sand, and gravel from quarries like these, along with steel originating in northern Minnesota, for our roads and bridges. Unfortunately, burdensome regulations from the federal government tie the hands of responsible development, and the Western Caucus looks forward to making sure we can access the materials we need.”
Companies like CRH play an important role in modernizing and maintaining critical infrastructure in Central Washington and across the country. Representatives from CRH spoke about difficulties of finding workers to fill jobs, burdensome federal regulations that hurt workers and small businesses, and the need for regulatory reform in order to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges, and highways.
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