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Good Morning. Thank you Angie for that kind introduction. It is a pleasure to speak to the Nuclear Energy Assembly this morning. As Angie pointed out, I am a long-time member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. And as you know, this committee has jurisdiction of about 40% of the legislation that is introduced in the House of Representatives. It is considered a major committee in the legislative hierarchy and I can tell you that it is a privilege to serve and contribute to the important work of this committee.

When I was thinking about speaking here today, I kept thinking of the word "power." You know, when I was growing up, people really didn't call this service electricity-- they called it power. They paid their bills to the power company, they talked about people having their power cut off. And you know, like in many things, the old way to look at it is still the best. 

One of the definitions contained in the dictionary for power is the "possession of the qualities required to do something or get something done." And that is what electrical power is for most people--it is the thing required to get something done. It is the thing required to keep them out of the darkness; it is the thing required to heat and cool their homes; it is the thing required to store food; it is the thing that is required for modern life. 

And we realize that the importance of power most when it is missing. Last summer, New York and almost half of the nation suffered from a blackout. From New York to Michigan and from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania, the lights went out. There was no electricity for essential services. Millions of dollars in perishable foods were lost by businesses and individuals. People were unable to get to work because of the intricate link between electricity and the transportation infrastructure. There were no subways, and no traffic signals. And even if you could get to work, there was no work that could be done because there were no computers, fax machines, copy machines and in some places there were no phones. The way we do business is totally dependent on the availability of electricity. And if you could not get to work, staying home was no vacation. There was no air conditioning, no television and in many high-rise buildings, there was no access to water. Many people were only able to cook on outside grills, because their stoves did not work. And they had to cook a lot because their refrigerators were slowly defrosting. And so for several days, many of us lit candles, changed batteries, searched frantically for ice and prayed for the best.