Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
1/16/2015
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), the freshman lawmaker now representing Hanford, this week was named Vice-Chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology’s Energy Subcommittee. The subcommittee covers federal R&D programs, including Department of Energy laboratories. “I am honored by this exciting opportunity to serve as Vice-Chairman of the Energy Subcommittee, and I would like to thank Chairman [Lamar Smith (R-Texas),” Newhouse said in a statement. “The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Hanford Site position Central Washington as a leading region in the development of groundbreaking clean energy and nuclear waste management technologies. As Vice-Chairman of the Subcommittee, I will advocate for our Lab and bring Central Washington’s point of view on the continuing benefits and the necessity of developing and applying advanced energy technologies.”
Newhouse was elected this fall to fill the vacancy left by retired Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), a well-known Hanford advocate. Newhouse this week said he plans to focus on DOE oversight. “I also intend to push for transparency and accountability from the Department of Energy, building on my predecessor Rep. Doc Hastings’ effective oversight of DOE’s management,” Newhouse said in an op-ed in the Tri-City Herald newspaper. “Just as taxpayers deserve cleanup efforts that continue apace, they also deserve openness related to the ongoing decontamination efforts at Hanford.”
Newhouse emphasized that “the federal government has a moral and legal obligation to continue environmental cleanup efforts at the Hanford site.” He said, “I grew up in the shadow of Hanford, and my recent visit to the storied Manhattan Project site underlined the fact that stable funding is crucial to maintaining the impressive progress made so far. We simply can’t afford the alternative.”
