U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander on Wednesday announced he will be an original cosponsor of a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“For eight years as governor, I balanced Tennessee’s budget, and other states balance their budgets—I don’t see why Washington can’t do the same,” said Alexander, a Tennessee Republican.
The second-term senator said the federal government is borrowing 42 cents of every dollar it spends, and that’s money the country dosen’t have.
Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)
A report released Wednesday said the automatic federal spending cuts set for March 1 would require furloughs at the Y-12 National Security Complex and a shutdown of the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The report was issued by Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee.
It said Y-12 would have to furlough 700-1,000 of its 4,500 employees for up to six months, and there would be hundreds of layoffs at national laboratories, universities, research facilities, and private sector companies that rely on grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science for energy research, the report said.
U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander
U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann
In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, President Barack Obama called for raising the minimum wage, doing more to fight global warming, and reducing the deficit through spending cuts and tax increases.
The president also called for voting on new gun laws, reforming Medicare and the tax code, and working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every child.
The U.S. Department of Labor will host three town hall meetings on Wednesday in Oak Ridge to provide information about the medical benefits provided under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act.
The EEOICPA provides compensation and medical benefits to employees who became ill as a result of working in the nuclear weapons industry. At the meetings, specific information will be discussed concerning home health care services, the Privacy Act, and how to better serve EEOICPA claimants.
The meetings are scheduled for 9:30 a.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. Wednesday.
WASHINGTON — The United States Postal Service announced plans today to transition to a new delivery schedule during the week of Aug. 5 that includes package delivery Monday through Saturday, and mail delivery Monday through Friday. The Postal Service expects to generate cost savings of approximately $2 billion annually, once the plan is fully implemented.
“The Postal Service is advancing an important new approach to delivery that reflects the strong growth of our package business and responds to the financial realities resulting from America’s changing mailing habits,” said Patrick R. Donahoe, postmaster general and chief executive officer. “We developed this approach by working with our customers to understand their delivery needs and by identifying creative ways to generate significant cost savings.”
KNOXVILLE—The Tennessee Valley Authority reported Tuesday that electricity sales were relatively flat in the first quarter of fiscal year 2013, total revenues were consistent with the prior year, and net income was down.
“TVA’s total operating revenues remain on plan,” new President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson said. “We continue to drive performance and process improvements in order to provide cleaner and low-cost energy to our customers.”
Higher off-system sales as a result of excess generation and closer-to-normal temperatures for the period, compared with even warmer weather a year ago, contributed to a slight 0.2 percent increase in total electricity sales, TVA said in its quarterly filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2012.
Chuck Fleischmann
Third District Rep. Chuck Fleischmann has announced the Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit will be held the last week of May and return to the site where it started 18 years ago—Oak Ridge. The exact dates are being determined based on the schedules of several anticipated national speakers, including U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
Senior decision-makers representing academia, government, and industry from Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, Kentucky, and North Carolina will convene in the New Hope Center at Oak Ridge’s Y-12 National Security Complex for the two-day meeting. Fleischmann will serve as host and be joined by of members of the TVC congressional delegation.
Lamar Alexander
Bob Corker
U.S. senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, both Tennessee Republicans, on Thursday voted against H.R. 325, the House-passed debt limit bill, and urged Congress to focus on reforming Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, a press release said.
“I voted against this bill because it raises the debt ceiling without taking steps to reduce the debt,” Alexander said. “Sen. Corker and I have introduced legislation that would reduce entitlement spending by nearly $1 trillion in exchange for the president’s expected request to increase the debt ceiling.”
Steven Chu
After serving one term, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced Friday morning that he will not serve a second four-year term in the Obama administration.
In an announcement posted on the U.S. Department of Energy website, Chu said he will continue to serve as secretary through the ARPA-E Summit at the end of February and may stay beyond that “so that I can leave the department in the hands of the new secretary.” ARPA-E stands for Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy.
Chu said he would like to return to an academic life of teaching and research, and he informed President Barack Obama of his decision to return to California shortly after the Nov. 6 election.
Building 9204-3 at the Y-12 National Security Complex could be included in a Manhattan Project National Historical Park under legislation that could be reintroduced in Congress early this year. (Photo courtesy of Y-12 National Security Complex.)
A U.S. Senate committee assistant said officials expect a bill to be reintroduced early this year to create a Manhattan Project national park that could include sites in Oak Ridge, Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash.
An earlier bill to create the park died in the last session of Congress, and one of its key sponsors, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat, has retired.
Bingaman was chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, has replaced him as chair.
“As you know, Sen. Bingaman sponsored the bill to create a Manhattan Project National Historical Park with components in New Mexico, Washington, and Tennessee, because one of the areas to be included (Los Alamos, N.M.) was in his home state,” said Sam Offerdahl, press assistant for the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “We expect the bill to be reintroduced early this year, likely with a member from one of the states that is home to the proposed parks as lead sponsor (following Senate custom).”
Y-12 National Security Complex (Submitted photo)
A second protest has been filed challenging the federal decision to award a five-year contract to Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC to manage and operate the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.
The second protest was filed Jan. 25 by Integrated Nuclear Production Solutions LLC.
The first was filed Jan. 17 by Nuclear Production Partners LLC, a team led by Babcock and Wilcox.
Now mostly demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. The site could be included in a Manhattan Project National Historical Park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)
A bill to create a Manhattan Project national park that would include Oak Ridge died in the last session of Congress, but the legislation could be revived this session.
“It will be reintroduced,” said Cindy Kelly, founder and president of the Atomic Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. “We are very optimistic that the bill will move through the process.”
Besides Oak Ridge, the park would also include sites in Los Alamos, N.M., and Hanford, Wash.
