A copy of a congressional record statement titled "Swan Song for Clinch River," in reference to costly failure of the nuclear Clinch River Breeder Reactor Project in Tennessee, delivered by US Congressman Les AuCoin. A copy of the statement was sent to Congresman AuCoin, who seemingly wrote notes in the margins additionally criticizing the project, stating "It's too bad for America, too, that Mr. Howard Baker's pet project wasn't solar or renewable energy; why is it that political back-scratching never seems to benefit the causes that will do the nation the most good?" A draft letter by AuCoin to the Reagan Administration is attached to the end of the statement copy, calling the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Project "expensive, dangerous, and unnecessary."
House floor remarks by US Congressman Les AuCoin, as published in the Congressional Record, advocating for HR3595 - A bill to amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to provide a uniform time for the closing of the polling places in all elections of the electors of the President and Vice President of the United States, to prevent the release of election results before polling places have closed, and for other purposes. This legislation was notably introduced following the 1980 presidential election, when Jimmy Carter conceded the election before polls closed on the West Coast.
On August 2nd, 1989, AuCoin gave what became known as his “Take Names and Kick Ankles” speech. The statement was in response to an amendment proposed by Representative Robert Dornan, Republican from California, to prevent the use of public funds for abortion in the District of Columbia. From his seat on the House Appropriations Committee, AuCoin led the debate, declaring that Congress could no longer pass anti-abortion policy without political backlash. This is one of a collection of digitized objects from the Les AuCoin Papers (MS.147) at the Pacific University Archives, and it can be found in Box 10, Folder 8.
