Craig's fallLost influence in D.C. may have impact on INL
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By PAUL MENSER
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pmenser@postregister.com
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Associated Press - Sen. Larry Craig, center, meets with Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., left, and Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., in D.C. in 2003. |
The possible departure of Sen. Larry Craig, the site's longtime champion on Capitol Hill, could pose challenges for the lab. Late-night comedians might be having a field day with Larry Craig, but if Idaho's senior senator does in fact resign, it will be no laughing matter at Idaho National Laboratory. Though it has gotten help from other members of the state's congressional delegation, INL has consistently looked to Craig as its leading champion. In 16 years, his seniority and committee assignments have allowed him to exercise a remarkable amount of clout. Craig is trying to reverse the guilty plea he entered to a charge of disorderly conduct stemming from a June 11 incident in a public bathroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. But the controversy prompted Senate Republicans to relieve him of his committee assignments, pending the outcome of an Ethics Committee investigation. These included the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies, and the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests. Craig could still resign, as he originally announced he would. "We're just heartbroken about the influence we would lose in Congress," said Steve Laflin, president of the Partnership for Science and Technology, a local group that lobbies for INL. "Whoever is named as a replacement is not going to have the seniority. ... To lose that and start over is just painful." Seniority is generally the principle from which all representatives or senators derive their power. The longer a person serves, the more likely he or she is to rank high on committees and subcommittees. Craig's position on the Senate Appropriations Committee, which he has held since 1998, has given him the clout to get projects funded at INL. "It is very competitive, with the emphasis that President Bush has put on cutting federal spending," said Sid Smith, a spokesman in Sen. Craig's Boise office. "Idaho has been in a very good position having Sen. Craig and congressman Simpson able to work on both sides of the dome." The loss would not only be Craig but also his staff, which has built considerable expertise on nuclear matters, Smith said. Some of them might be picked up by a successor, but John Wilcynski, DOE manager for Idaho from 1994-1999, said they are bound to have job offers. Craig's most notable achievement might have been getting INL designated in the 2005 Energy Policy Act as the site for the multibillion-dollar Next Generation Nuclear Plant, said John Revere, legislative director for six years for Rep. Mike Simpson. "Senator Craig really got the ball rolling on this," Revere said. "It's his reactor in almost every sense of the word." Craig has been a strong supporter of the Advanced Test Reactor, the only operating reactor left at INL, and probably knows more than anyone in Congress about the Yucca Mountain repository for nuclear waste. In the negotiations that led to the 2005 Energy Bill, he was a key voice in streamlining the application process for new commercial power reactors. Throughout the time Craig has been in the Senate, INL's future has not been a sure thing. Revere said he remembers the first budget from President George W. Bush, in which the directive for the lab focused on the phrase "clean up and close down." In the DOE complex, the competition for money is always fierce, Wilcynski said. In the 1990s, Craig and his junior colleague, Sen. Dirk Kempthorne, scrambled to keep a mission for the lab when it became something of a stepchild to the DOE office in Washington, D.C. "Science labs didn't want it, and nuclear was not very strong," Wilcynski said. "There were quite a large number of people who did not want to keep it as a national laboratory. A lot of people don't appreciate what kind of threat it was under." They found it a home with the Environmental Management office, which is why it became the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory for a time. But recognizing that would be a temporary mission at best, Craig pushed to have INL designated as the DOE's lead lab for nuclear research. With interest in nuclear research revived, the lab has been in a position to rebuild its capabilities. "I think the lab has made tremendous progress," Revere said. He said Simpson will continue to represent the lab. Smith said he believes that no matter what happens, Idaho will continue to be represented. "The Idaho delegation has always worked as a team," he said. Craig's nuclear accomplishments Helped secure more than $2.2 million in appropriations for Idaho National Laboratory since 2002. Co-sponsored and passed legislation establishing the Yucca Mountain waste repository, ensuring the safe disposal of waste from Department of Energy and commercial sites. Stabilized and expanded the mission of INL to designate it as the Energy Department's lead nuclear laboratory, employing 8,452 people, and accounting for 19,860 INL operations-related jobs in Idaho. Obtained authorization in the 2005 Energy Policy Act for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant to be in Idaho. Streamlined regulations for licensing of new nuclear plants in the 2005 Energy Policy Act. Obtained provision in the 2005 Energy Policy Act for the export of highly enriched uranium to Canada for manufacture of technetium-99, used extensively in medical procedures. Co-authored and passed the Senate Energy Bill of 2007, which includes increased production of domestic energy resources. Developed and authorized the national nuclear energy university program to train nuclear scientists at Boise State University, the University of Idaho and Idaho State University. Craig's committee assignments Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (ranked behind Pete Domenici, R-N.M.) Subcommittee on Water and Power (ranked behind Bob Corker, R-Tenn.) Subcommittee on Energy (ranked behind Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska) Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests (ranked behind Richard Burr, R-N.C.) Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies (ranking member) Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Related Agencies Subcommittee on Energy and Water Subcommittee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (ranked behind Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas) Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund and Environmental Health (ranking member) Subcommittee on Public Sector Solutions to Global Warming, Oversight and Children's Health Protection Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs (ranking member) Senate Special Committee on Aging "Senator Craig really got the ball rolling on this. It's his reactor in almost every sense of the word." john revere Mike Simpson legislative director
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