04/30/2011 Pre-vote Debate Wrap-up on the 1st Supplementary Budget for Reconstruction

(Chairman) Mr. Yasuo Tanaka, please take the podium.
(Yasuo Tanaka) I’m speaking on behalf of the People’s New Party and New Party Nippon in support of the supplementary budget bill 3 for the fiscal 2011.
Japan currently faces the biggest crisis ever since its opening to the world. Having experienced the massive earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent nuclear accident, the country needs more than ever to create a new equation to deal with all sort of challenges, including aid to quake victims, shifting to alternative energies, as well as creating financial resources.
This supplementary budget bill is designed to serve as emergency bridge loan, necessary for the government to pay for swift legislation and execution of laws and budgets to enable Japan to construct a new social common capital, based on this philosophy and determination.
In the wake of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, many people not only lost their loved-ones and their homes, but they lost jobs and workplace. That’s significantly different from the great Hanshin and Awaji earthquake in 1995.
People need to be ‘fed, clothed and housed.’ But all the more, they need to have a desire to live. To help quake-survivors find jobs so they can become independent and move out of the shelters, I strongly believe the state must do more to create an environment to make this happen. I strongly urge the government to start providing quake survivors ‘Basic Income’ every month for the next 6 months. The payment should be made on individual basis, not per household. The idea of Basic Income is for everyone, regardless of age, from babies to the elderly. I call it ‘preparation funds.’
The People’s New Party and New Party Nippon made proposals yesterday during question time to finance the program. We proposed the utilization of savings in dormant bank accounts and the issuance of 100 trillion yen worth of government bonds underwritten by the Bank of Japan as well as interest-free national bonds, to finance the reconstruction project.
In order to make a real shift to clean energies, the state should require all structures to be equipped with solar panels. We should also make use of geo-thermal energy, which is appropriate for a massive volcanic country like Japan. We should also make use of micro-hydro power on irrigation canals, tidal power from sea waves as well as wind power. There’s more. We should make use of “Aurantiochytrium,” a new type of algae which was newly discovered in Japan. As I proposed yesterday, we should introduce and put to practical use “Aurantiochytrium” which produces hydrocarbon which is the chief component of oil and natural gas.
Budding budgets which don’t make sense should be eliminated early while they are still buds. For instance, land improvement to remove salt from rice paddies which turned salty due to the tsunami indeed is a project which is antithetical to this new equation.
Yesterday, Professor Toshiso Kosako of Tokyo University resigned as special advisor to the cabinet. He strongly called for measures on the principles of law and justice to prevent nuclear disasters. He said it’s unacceptable for the government to virtually force 20 millisieverts of radiation exposure to infants and grade school children who are most vulnerable to radiation. He said it’s extremely rare even for the 84 thousand workers at nuclear power plants to be exposed to 20 millisieverts of radiation per year. Mr. Kosako said this is unacceptable from the academic as well as humanistic viewpoints.
We should be the first in the world to stop ‘blindly believing in science and never doubting technology.’ We should start ‘making use of science and surpassing conventional technologies.’ It’s the alarming fact we cannot ignore when we try to rebuild Japan with a vision and hope.
Mr. Naoto Kan is the prime minister and has two great authorities. He has the power to legislate and the power to administrate, because he is the prime minister. He must not just put the issue aside, dismissing it as a difference of opinion. He should work hard to prevent the disasters from having serious and enormous impact on children who are the bearers of this country’s future. He should issue administrative orders to the Education and Science Ministry, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and the Tokyo Electric Power Company to call on them to comply with the rules and regulations and to disclose accurate information to the public. I thank you very much for your attention.
(Chairman) We hereby conclude the debate.