Where I Stand: Welcome President Clinton and happy birthday Nevada

Thursday, Oct. 31, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

MR. PRESIDENT, we knew you were coming so we baked a cake. Well, it's not really for you, but we'll be happy to share a piece of Nevada's birthday cake with our honored guest. We really feel honored that you would find time to return to the Silver State during the final hours of a hectic campaign.

I've only lived in Nevada for 40 years, but a sitting president to visit us during the final 100 hours of a national campaign hasn't happened during that period of time. In the past, we've always felt lucky to have even one visit from a president during a year and this is your second.

Nevadans are hospitable people and are proud of their homes, communities and state. We like to share what we have with others and you have given us hope that we can keep the good life we have created for our families.

I heard that some Republicans with deep pockets bought an expensive ad in the morning paper hoping they could bother you. Ignore them and their bad manners. A large majority of Nevadans, which includes members of all political parties, have more class than that small group of panicky politicians.

Nevada governors just don't miss appearing in Nevada Day parades, but your friend Bob Miller won't be in the one celebrating the Silver State's 132nd anniversary. He will be on hand to greet you when you arrive in Las Vegas today. This is an exceptional display of hospitality and friendship difficult to measure. Everybody in Clark County is happy that he's coming down here and didn't have you go to Carson City and ride in the parade with him. That's probably what he would have done if he was also on the ballot this fall. Not many state candidates pass up the biggest parade in Northern Nevada just a few days before election.

Mr. President, you have earned the heartfelt thanks of Miller, Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, and all who love this state and call it home. If you hadn't taken a strong stand against the attempt by Congress to turn Yucca Mountain into a "temporary" nuke waste dump, we wouldn't be cheerfully celebrating today. We would be preparing for that first dangerous load of high-level nuke waste to travel across our country and be dumped on us.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his followers were playing political games with us and the future of our children. The nation's wealthy utility corporations have his ear and that of several senators, both Democrat and Republican, and they aren't going to give up in their efforts. Let's face it, your opponent Bob Dole still hasn't shown the strength needed to denounce their dangerous games and protect Nevada.

Sometime during the next four years, I wish you would find time to take a very close look at Nevada and better understand what this state's residents are all about. This isn't just Fremont Street and the Las Vegas Strip. We have towns so small that Hope, Ark., would seem like a big city to the residents.

I've heard that you are considering an environmental summit at Lake Tahoe. That would be great, there couldn't be a more appropriate surrounding for such an important conference. Fighting to keep the lake clean and protecting the entire basin have been important roles for every Nevada governor since 1963 when Nevada's Grant Sawyer and California's Pat Brown decided strong action must be taken to protect this jewel in the Sierras. On Tuesday, Nevada voters, by voting YES on Question 12, can continue to protect one of our nation's most beautiful lakes.

Lake Tahoe is but one spot of great beauty Nevadans would like to share with you. The Great Basin National Park, Ruby Marshes, Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, Mount Charleston, Pyramid Lake and dozens of beautiful high desert spots are some of the places we enjoy and share with others.

Just as important are the people called Nevadans. It makes no difference if they moved here last month or were born and raised here, they are our friends and neighbors. All of us want to provide for an even better life for our children and grandchildren. We appreciate your reassurance that our way of life is worth protecting and passing on to those who follow us.

Again, thanks for dropping in for a visit and sharing our 132nd birthday celebration. Please come back many more times. Nevada is a much more pleasant place than Washington, D.C., and we love visitors who share our interests and care about the future of our families.