"He says [he] can't talk about it yet, but Congressman Bill Johnson hinted Monday night that a state-of-the-art, steel-producing facility soon could make its home in Ohio," according to Wheeling News Register.

The report said "During a town hall meeting at Bridgeport High School, the East Ohio Republican addressed a question on whether potential investors in the state were willing to commit funds given the political climate regarding energy use.

'We're working on a project now - almost since the day I was sworn in - that promises to bring state-of-the-art steel manufacturing back to America,' he told the audience. 'I'm not at liberty to give you details yet, because I can't.'

'But when you hear that nuclear energy is not a solution to the nation's energy crisis - it's not because of technology, know-how or because we don't have the people who can do the work. It's because we no longer make the steel in America that's required to make a nuclear reactor. We got rid of that kind of steel. We outsourced it all.'

Johnson said there are presently only two countries in the world that make the needed steel - Japan and France.

'But Japan has a 10-year backlog,' he said. 'The reason it takes us 10 years to stand a nuclear reactor is because we have to put in a back order with Japan to get the parts. We're working with a company - and we're optimistic - that we're going to bring steel manufacturing back to America. It might make Ohio the core of the nuclear supply chain not just for America, but for the world.'

Johnson also spoke of the federal budget bill passed in the House this past weekend. He said the Republican majority is fighting a 'two-front battle' - one to cut spending and the second to rein in regulatory agencies.

Johnson pointed to the long list of amendments included in the budget bill passed this weekend in the House, and how many of them pertained to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and related agencies.

'There were billions of dollars of cuts on the EPA - and we're going to continue that until we get these regulatory agencies under control. ...' he said.

Johnson, though, admitted he doesn't expect the budget bill to pass the Senate - or much less to be signed into law by President Barack Obama.

He expects there will instead be a series of short-term continuing spending plans passed by Congress, and that each plan will contain some of the spending cuts advocated by Republicans."