Health bill not liked in Senate
November 9 – “Big government is not the solution; it’s the problem. The Pelosi health care bill will force states to add millions to their Medicaid rolls without the money to pay for it down the road. Seven Democratic governors, including our own Phil Bredesen, have spoken loudly against it.” – U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp.
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Atomic City Underground Blog: Wamp meets with D'Agostino
October 30 – Congressman Zach Wamp's office released a photo from a meeting with NNSA Administrator Tom D'Agostino. According to information provided by Wamp's staff, the two discussed the Nuclear Posture Review and plans to "modernize or modify" the U.S. nuclear weapons complex.
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Atomic City Underground Blog: Wamp on Day of Remembrance
October 29 – A resolution on the Nuclear Worker Day of Remembrance passed the House and Congressman Zach Wamp was among the co-sponsors. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee was among the co-sponsors of the resolution that earlier passed the Senate.
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News makers
October 5 – Rep. Zach Wamp has been named the recipient of the Tennessee River Valley Association's Janice L. Jones Friend of the Valley Award. Named for Jan Jones, who led the nonprofit organization for three decades, the Friend of the Valley Award is annually presented to individuals who make substantial contributions to the economic improvement of the Tennessee and Cumberland Valley regions. Wamp's efforts to replace the deteriorating Chickamauga Lock near Chattanooga is an example of his commitment to the region's waterway transportation infrastructure.
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Wamp pushes USEC, UPF, other issues
September 16 – Rep. Zach Wamp met with DOE Deputy Secretary Daniel Poneman and again pushed DOE to approve a loan guarantee for USEC's American Centrifuge Project. Wamp also reportedly discussed the ORNL and Y-12 missions -- most notably the UPF at Y-12. Wamp was in Oak Ridge earlier this month to amplify his support for USEC and its bid for loan guarantees.
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Wamp on 9/11 anniversary
September 11 – Rep. Zach Wamp: "September 11, 2001, is a day that we will remember the rest of our lives because every American knows where they were and what they were doing when evil surfaced in such an awful way. In the days and weeks that followed, love and heroism came and replaced terrorism and evil. America came back together and rebuilt itself.”
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Wamp backs nuke project
September 4 – Rep. Zach Wamp said he didn't want to turn the situation into a political contest, but he strongly challenged the Obama administration's Department of Energy to approve loan guarantees for a new uranium-enrichment plant and take other actions supporting a project that he characterized as important to U.S. manufacturing, U.S. security and the U.S. nuclear industry. Wamp made his comments Thursday at a press conference held at USEC Inc.'s American Centrifuge Technology Manufacturing Center in Oak Ridge, where hundreds of jobs are reportedly on the line. Wamp said it's critically important that DOE allow USEC to spend the research money to keep intact the Oak Ridge work force that is building the centrifuge machines with advanced technologies to enrich uranium for nuclear fuel.
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Regular checkups part of reactor's health plan
September 2 – One of the ORNL’s prize possessions will be out of commission for the next month and half. The 47-day outage at the High Flux Isotope Reactor is part of the lab's strategy to keep the old reactor - built and commissioned in the 1960s - available for experiments and production of radioisotopes for decades yet to come. The fall outage is one of the two biggest of the year (the other being in the spring), and a long list of maintenance tasks and upgrades is planned. Rep. Zach Wamp is scheduled to meet with USEC and B&W officials regarding the American Centrifuge Project and USEC's application for a loan guarantee from DOE. Hundreds of Oak Ridge workers recently got notices about possible layoffs this fall as the manufacturing effort is demobilized.
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Wamp to meet with USEC, B&W on centrifuge plans
August 28 – According to his weekly media schedule, Congressman Zach Wamp is planning to be in Oak Ridge to meet with USEC and B&W officials regarding the American Centrifuge Project and USEC's application for a loan guarantee from the DOE. Hundreds of Oak Ridge workers recently got notices about possible layoffs this fall as the manufacturing effort is demobilized.
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Wamp joins USEC rally
August 1 – Rep. Zach Wamp joined with USEC Inc. employees and supporters at their rally in Washington, calling on the Department of Energy to reconsider a loan guarantee for a uranium-enrichment plant. The American Centrifuge Plant "is exactly the type of innovative technology project that can turn our economy around and create jobs," Wamp said.
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DOE denies USEC’s loan
July 29 – DOE has denied USEC Inc.’s application for a $2B loan guarantee, and the company has started “demobilizing” the American Centrifuge Project that employs Rep. Zach Wamp has gone to bat for USEC and urged Energy Secretary Steven Chu to intervene and help back the program touted as a key part of the nation’s nuclear renaissance.
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Student aid draws opinions
July 27 – Rep. Zach Wamp warned that a government takeover of the student loan industry would decrease competition and limit students' financial options. "As Congress continues this debate, I hope the Democratic leadership will allow for consideration of alternative proposals rather than impose another government-controlled program on Tennesseans that will eliminate their ability to choose the lenders that best fit their needs," he said.
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Democrats vote costly to state
July 19 – Congressman Zach Wamp and his Republican colleagues from Tennessee voted against the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, or the "cap-and-trade" bill that narrowly passed the U.S House on July 3 after months of debate. We need more elected officials who look out for Tennesseans' best interests.
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House OKs Energy Bill that puts Limits on Greenhouse Gases
June 27 – Congressman Zach Wamp voted against an energy and climate bill passed by the U.S. House of Represetatives. He said, "Cap and trade is nothing more than a big regulatory scheme that will burden the American people with a new national energy tax. Outside estimates say this climate legislation would cost the average household more than $1,800 a year."
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An Oak Ridge haven for classified projects
June 18 – Congressman Zach Wamp attended a ribbon-cutting for the new Secure Support Facility in Oak Ridge’s Horizon Center. There was free-flowing optimism about the future of the 67,000-square-foot facility, a highly secure location for highly classified projects.
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Y-12's big project is getting a big review
June 12 – Congressmen Zach Wamp is pleading the case for a bump-up in funding for the Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12, but it looks like the government is evaluating a whole bunch of options on how to proceed. Congressman Wamp said recently, "This 9212 long-term obligation is way too expensive."
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OR site being considered for new generation of nuke reactor
June 11 – A parcel of land that was to be the site of a controversial nuclear reactor next to the Clinch River could become one of the first locations in the country for a new generation of smaller reactors. The new mPower reactor would be modular in design and would produce about one-tenth of the power generated by other nuclear reactors. Both of Tennessee’s U.S. Senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, attended the announcement of the new reactor, as did Rep. Zach Wamp.
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Political cycle doesn't favor Y-12 project
June 3 – “Today the lab is going to be flush with renewable energy and energy research because that is a big priority," Rep. Zach Wamp said. "There are certain missions and priorities in Oak Ridge that fare well under Republican administrations and some that fare well under Democratic administrations," he said at the Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit. The proposed UPF is currently in the design phases. It would replace 60-year-old production facilities at Y-12 and cap the ongoing modernization campaign at the Oak Ridge warhead plant.
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Think about education from conception to grave
June 2 – Schools are wrapping up for the year, and across the state, many children and teens eagerly await the promise of summer. But learning doesn’t end with summer vacation or even with a diploma. Education is a lifelong journey that begins at conception and continues to the grave. Most education discussions are narrowly focused on the K-12 and college years. But in the 21st Century, it is much more expansive, and our efforts to educate Tennesseans should reflect the differing needs of individuals at every stage of life. It starts in the womb and continues well into adulthood. Though the joys of summer may beckon us at any age, our learning days are never really over as we continue down the road of education.
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Oak Ridge hosts economic, technology summit
May 28 – "Vision comes from knowledge," Zach Wamp said during the opening ceremonies at the two-day event. Wamp has hosted the regional summit since its inception in 1995.
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House approves funding for wars
May 15 – Despite Democrats' rising anxiety about Afghanistan, the House on Thursday easily passed a $96.7B measure filling President Barack Obama's request for war spending and foreign aid efforts there and in Iraq. Fifty-one Democrats broke with Obama, who is sending thousands more troops into Afghanistan, but all but a handful of Republicans stood behind the president to produce a 368-60 tally. Republicans Marsha Blackburn, Phil Roe and Zach Wamp voted yes while John J. Duncan Jr. voted against the bill.
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Wamp Bill to Honor Military Passes House
May 13 – Rep. Zach Wamp's resolution to honor the nation's military and veterans has passed the U.S. House of Representatives. “The men and women of our current armed forces and the veterans who served before them are the greatest Americans," said Congressman Wamp. "Every time freedom has been handed from one generation to the next, it has been by American patriots who are willing to stand between a threat and our civilian population. They deserve every ounce of our appreciation and gratitude."
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