Miller expects word on diplomat’s post in weeks

Jeff German and Larry Henry

Monday, Nov. 17, 1997 | 12:47 p.m.

Gov. Bob Miller will know in a couple of weeks whether he'll be nominated ambassador to Mexico.

That's the word Miller said he got from President Clinton over the weekend while the president stopped in Las Vegas on a western campaign fund-raising trip.

Miller said he didn't talk to Clinton much about the diplomatic post, preferring to convey once more his concerns about legislation to temporarily store high-level nuclear waste at the Nevada Test Site.

The governor said he got no indication from Clinton where he stood in the Mexico nomination process.

On Friday, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he has been receiving "mixed signals" from the White House about Miller's chances of landing the ambassadorship.

Miller said he also was getting mixed signals.

Before the president visited Las Vegas last week, White House officials said Houston Mayor Bob Lanier had jumped to the top of the short list.

Miller has received some criticism for pushing to leave Nevada before his term expires in January 1999.

If nominated and confirmed by the Senate next year, Miller might have to turn over the reins of the state to Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren, a Republican.

While in Las Vegas, Clinton addressed a fund-raiser for the Democratic National Committee's Women's Leadership Forum.

The president also was the guest of honor at a $5,000-a-person fund-raiser for the DNC at the Henderson home of Las Vegas SUN Editor Brian Greenspun, his longtime friend.

About 75 guests attended the dinner, catered by Spago, in a large tent in Greenspun's back yard.

Tennis great Andre Agassi and his wife, actress Brooke Shields, were among those on hand. Agassi, who left early, gave the president his seat next to Shields.

Miller, meanwhile said he was pleased by the president's renewed opposition to nuclear waste bill.

Clinton made himself clear on the issue when addressing about 400 supporters at the Women's Leadership Forum at the Desert Inn.

The Senate and the House both passed bills this session to store high-level waste at the Test Site, about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

"My position has never been to come here to pander to you," the president said. "It's just to tell the truth.

"This is a serious issue and we should not make a decision to this anywhere until we're sure it is safe and we're absolutely certain that our predecessors didn't pick the site for political reasons."

The president has vowed to veto the measure when it comes to his desk.

Clinton praised Miller, Reid and Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., who have been leading the charge against making Nevada the nation's nuclear waste dumping ground.

Clinton said the trio never has asked him to join the opposition if he felt the evidence showed otherwise.

"All they said was make sure that we're doing the right thing and make sure that we haven't been singled out because we're a big state with still a fairly small population and not many electoral votes," Clinton said.

"That was the right thing to do. I thought it was right then, and I think it's right now."

Reid and Bryan believe they have enough votes in the Senate to sustain the president's veto, which likely would come when Congress reconvenes next year.

Asked afterward whether he was encouraged by Clinton's remarks, Reid said: "Damn right."