{"id":1876,"date":"2007-06-21T14:37:00","date_gmt":"2007-06-21T20:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/06\/proposed-lab-cuts-would-have-widespread-impact\/"},"modified":"2007-06-21T14:37:00","modified_gmt":"2007-06-21T20:37:00","slug":"proposed-lab-cuts-would-have-widespread-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/06\/proposed-lab-cuts-would-have-widespread-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed lab cuts would have widespread impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Though the impact might not be felt as strongly in Southern New Mexico<\/st1:place>, the proposal approved by the U.S. House to cut funding for the state\u2019s nuclear weapons laboratories is causing quite a firestorm up north. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The House approved on Wednesday cuts of about $400 million in funding for Los Alamos<\/st1:place> and Sandia national laboratories. A proposal by Rep. Tom Udall<\/a>, the Democrat whose district includes LANL, to reduce the cuts by $192 million was shot down by his colleagues.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Senate\u2019s proposal will be released next week. It\u2019s not yet known whether it will include the cuts.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The political dimensions here are nearly endless. When he was energy secretary, Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> got his worst public haranguing of all time over security breaches at LANL, and the problems have continued since then. A few Republicans supported the cuts because they believe LANL, which will bear the largest share of the cuts, hasn\u2019t been responsible with the money it\u2019s been given.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

A number of Democrats, on the other hand, believe it\u2019s time for a shift at the labs from a focus on nuclear weapons to more attention on energy research. The cuts would essentially mandate a shift in the mission of the labs.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But the cuts would lead to hundreds or thousands of layoffs. That puts Udall in a tough spot. When he was named earlier this year to the Appropriations Committee, New Mexicans expected his new influence to pay off in terms of dollars to the state. Instead, the first major news from the committee was the massive cuts at the labs, a cornerstone of the state\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Udall has tried to strike the politically sensitive balance of supporting an \u201copen discussion\u201d about the future mission of the labs while also seeking to reduce the cuts. Republicans have hammered him for failing to protect funding for the labs.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Udall, there is nothing to discuss,\u201d New Mexico GOP<\/a> Executive Director Adam Feldman said in a news release. \u201cWhen unnecessary job cuts and our national defense are at stake, we expect you to fight for the interests of our state and nation, and not defer to the misplaced priorities of the Democrats in Congress. Do your job.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>\u2019s delegation supported Udall\u2019s failed proposal to reduce the cuts on Wednesday. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a>, R-N.M., said on the House floor that he \u201cdeeply regret(ed) that the majority has decided to cut these programs and irrevocably harm our nuclear weapon programs and fail to maintain our nuclear stockpile. Our responsibility is to protect the American people and ensure that our weapons programs operate in a responsible and secure manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\n

Sen. Pete Domenici<\/a> told the Albuquerque Tribune<\/a> that the delegation\u2019s opposition to the cuts isn\u2019t just about protecting New Mexicans\u2019 jobs.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThe House plan represents a seismic shift in American nuclear weapons policy with national and international implications,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Domenici sums it up well: This is a huge deal on a state, national and international level. The funding plan approved by the House mandates a massive policy shift. At the same time, jobs in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> are at stake.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The one with the most to lose is Udall. Security breaches have been leading to potential punitive cuts for years. The end of the Cold War and the need to focus on energy independence have been leading to a potential shift in the mission of the nuclear labs for some time. If the Senate agrees to the cuts, it\u2019s all going to happen on Udall\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Udall had considered running for a seat in the U.S. Senate someday, if the situation presents itself. First he\u2019ll have to find a way to weather this storm. He\u2019s been around a long time, so don\u2019t count him out, even if the cuts are approved by the Senate and president.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But don\u2019t expect a bunch of fired rocket scientists to be happy, either.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though the impact might not be felt as strongly in Southern New Mexico, the proposal approved by the U.S. House to cut funding for the state\u2019s nuclear weapons laboratories is causing quite a firestorm up north. The House approved on Wednesday cuts of about $400 million in funding for Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}