"For more than a decade Nevada has been the fastest growing state in the nation. Each month thousands of new residents move to the Silver State in search of opportunity, employment and the quality of life that Nevadans now enjoy. Our State's two largest cities, Las Vegas and Henderson, are both located in Southern Nevada, which is now home to more than a million residents. In addition Las Vegas continues to attract more than 30 million visitors each year from all over the world who flock to this oasis in the Mojave Desert for entertainment and recreation.

At first glance the future of Southern Nevada seems bright, but there is a dark cloud looming on the horizon that threatens the health, safety and economy of the place we call home. That danger is the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain. A facility which some are hoping will become home to the world's deadliest poison – thousands of tons of high level nuclear waste.

I am, and have been, vehemently opposed to the underground storage of nuclear waste in Nevada. Together with my colleague Senator Richard Bryan and the other members of the Nevada Congressional Delegation we have fought to let science, not politics, ultimately disqualify this site as being unsafe to store nuclear waste for 100,000 years.

Once again, the Republican leadership in the Senate has vowed to make nuclear waste storage one of its top priorities when Congress returns in just a few short weeks. This is a critical time for the future of Nevada and our nation, and I commend all those individuals who took the time to attend today's hearing and to express their concern and opposition to Yucca Mountain.

The Department of Energy has left a great many questions unanswered in its work to prove the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site. Even more troubling is the danger that would be created by thousands of shipments of high level nuclear waste traveling across America's railways and roadways. We must remain committed to exposing this danger, not only to Nevadans, but to the millions of American families who may live only miles from the yet to be revealed transportation routes.

"Together, we must continue to stand guard against attempts to weaken standards to protect our groundwater and future generations from exposure to deadly radiation. And we must continue to resist efforts in Congress this year and every year after to designate Nevada as America's nuclear waste graveyard."