Reid can’t block Yucca progress, GOP rep says

by The Hill staff - 03/19/15 2:37 PM ET

A GOP lawmaker is hopeful Congress can move forward on sending the nation’s nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain in Nevada now that Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is no longer the majority leader.

Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) tells The Hill that Reid had blocked a law to create a nuclear repository there when Democrats controlled the Senate. The chamber is now in GOP control.

{mosads}”Remember, there hasn’t been a vote on Yucca Mountain in the Senate since Sen. Reid was the majority leader,” Shimkus said in an interview with The Hill. “Now he’s the minority leader, and being the minority leader, he can’t block what bills come to the floor, especially if there is a majority of senators — a supermajority of senators — who say, ‘No, we’ve got to move this bill.’ ”

Watch the video above to hear Shimkus discuss the latest push to send spent nuclear fuel to Nevada.

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