Wes Hickman/Kevin Bishop

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said President Bush’s budget submitted to Congress today is another sign the Administration intends to aggressively push forward with the mixed oxide fuel (MOX) mission at Savannah River Site. President Bush requested Congress devote $402 million in the coming year for construction of the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility at SRS. Under MOX, surplus weapons-grade plutonium from the U.S. nuclear arsenal will be converted into fuel to power a commercial nuclear reactor to produce electricity. “President Bush’s budget shows his commitment to moving forward on the MOX mission at SRS,” said Graham. “It’s a very important mission, not only for the country, but for the world.” Graham, along with the man he succeeded in the U.S. Senate, Strom Thurmond, authored legislation signed into law by President Bush that prevents the state from becoming the permanent storage site for plutonium. The federal government faces millions of dollars in fines and a legal obligation to remove plutonium from South Carolina if the MOX mission doesn’t go forward in a timely manner. Graham also noted the president’s budget contained good news on cleanup efforts at the Site. Among the notable items in President Bush’s request to Congress: A $124 million increase for DOE spending in South Carolina bringing the total to $1.8 billion; An additional $109 million for accelerated cleanup at SRS. DOE will now spend $1.35 billion on cleanup at the Site. “I’m pleased the President has kept his word and continues to put forward budgets and policies that help us clean up the Cold War legacy materials on the site while moving forward with important programs, like MOX, that will help make the world a safer place,” said Graham. “We’ve still got a long way to go in the budget process, but I think the President is getting us off to a good start.”

Wes Hickman/Kevin Bishop

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today supported the nomination of Miguel Estrada to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The 10-9 vote in committee was along party lines as Republicans supported and Democrats opposed the nomination. President Bush nominated Estrada in May 2001 but the nomination was blocked by the Democratic majority on the Judiciary Committee. “Mr. Estrada has unbelievable academic credentials and outstanding work experience,” said Graham. “He’s a solid person and a solid pick for the position. “The special interest politics of the left have great sway over many Senators in the Democratic party,” said Graham, noting the long delay in moving the nomination forward. “His critics rely on people in the shadows and on the fringe whose biggest objection to Mr. Estrada is he doesn’t see life their way. It’s unfortunate that liberal special interest groups and many Democratic Senators are opposing this qualified nominee.” Born in Honduras, Estrada came to the United States when he was 17 years old. He spoke only rudimentary English yet within five years he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia College in New York. He went on to earn his law degree, with honors, from Harvard University. Estrada worked at the U.S. Justice Department under both Democrat and Republican presidents and is a member of one of the most prestigious law firms in the country. Estrada has also won 10 of the 15 cases he argued before the Supreme Court. “His nomination to the Circuit Court is another example of the promise America holds to immigrants,” said Graham. “This fine man entered the United States as a teenager and has soared. He will bring honor to the bench.”

Wes Hickman/Kevin Bishop

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) today said he agreed with President Bush in many areas of the State of the Union address to the nation. “The president is being very responsible holding Saddam Hussein accountable for his weapons of mass destruction,” said Graham. “The French, Germans, and United Nations at large are not being as responsible as they should be. “Iraq had hundreds of artillery shells with chemical weapons, two batches of anthrax material, and hundreds of tons of nerve agents in their 1998 inventory. Now they are not accounted for. I hope the world would follow the president’s lead and make Saddam Hussein account for these materials and other information about his weapons of mass destruction program. “The Iraqi response of ‘we have no weapons of mass destruction,’ is a flat-out lie,” continued Graham. “I hope the world will get behind the president in making sure this man cannot continue his weapons program. He either needs to be disarmed or replaced.” Senator Graham also said he was very pleased with President Bush’s economic stimulus package to get the American economy moving again. “Every time you propose cutting taxes, you get criticized by people who want to keep taxpayer money in Washington to spend on government programs,” said Graham. “The economy needs a shot in the arm. I believe the president’s proposal provides that shot in the arm and makes sense in the long term. “In the short term, we need to stimulate the economy and in the long term we must create better investment opportunities. What we don’t need is to grow the size of the federal government in Washington. “Phasing in the marriage tax penalty repeal at a faster level to increase consumer spending makes sense. Increasing the child tax credit up to $1,000 from $600 to help families to raise their kids makes sense. Stopping the taxation of dividends because it’s a double tax makes sense. These are all good ideas as well as adding a capital gains tax cut to spur on economic activity.” Finally, Graham said he looked forward to working with President Bush to save Social Security for future generations of Americans and pass a Medicare prescription drug benefit into law. “President Bush and I both want to see Congress address the looming bankruptcy of Social Security head-on,” said Graham. “We cannot sit on the sidelines and watch Social Security go bankrupt. Unfortunately, some people prefer to stick their head in the sand and pretend the problem doesn’t exist. That approach doesn’t make the problem go away; it only makes the problem worse. “I also look forward to working with the president as we strengthen and improve Medicare for the millions of seniors who rely on the program,” said Graham. “There are a couple provisions I want to see in any Medicare prescription drug benefit. The first is that consumer choice must be part of the mix. The federal government shouldn’t be allowed to tell seniors what drugs to get. I don’t want a patient to have to get permission from a federal bureaucrat to get their prescription filled. That is a decision left to the doctor and the patient. “The second is that every senior needs to help pay for prescription drugs based on their ability to help themselves. Our well-to-do seniors should have to pay more for premiums than fixed-income seniors. I think it’s only fair and we must do this to afford the program.”