GOP convenes over nuke waste bill

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, April 11, 2000 | 11:18 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Republican leaders in Congress gathered today to officially send the nuclear waste bill to President Clinton.

The rare "enrollment ceremony," reserved for major legislation, also was designed to send Clinton a message: Congress approved the bill, so should you.

"I think this is a momentous occasion, this is a historic occasion. Never have we gotten so far on this issue," said Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, chief sponsor of the bill. "This is an obligation of this administration to address and resolve this issue."

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., a key supporter, agreed. "We ask the president to sign this bill. It's the right thing to do for children and for the American people, because it puts it in a safe place."

But Clinton has said he would veto the bill when it reaches his desk. Nevada's Congress members have implored him to keep the promise.

"I've asked him to recommit his opposition to this bill," said Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who has written Clinton several letters on the issue. "You're looking at 49 states and their fight against Nevada."

Gibbons, Nevada's lone Republican in Congress, said the enrollment ceremony was meaningless window dressing.

"It's for you (the media)," he said.

Scientists are studying whether it is safe to bury 77,000 tons of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

In the meantime, Congress passed a bill to establish rules and timelines for shipping the waste to Nevada. The Senate passed the bill in February and the House followed in March, despite strong opposition from the four-member Nevada delegation.

"Nevada's fate is now in the president's hands," Gibbons said after the House passed the bill.

The high-level radioactive material now sits in storage at nuclear power plants nationwide. According to the bill, trucks and trains would begin hauling waste to Nevada by 2007.

Power plant officials, led by the powerful lobbying group Nuclear Energy Institute, say they are running out of room to store waste. But Nevada politicians and environmentalists say it would be dangerous to store the waste all in one place at Yucca for 10,000 years or more.

Nevada's Democrats in Congress said they were surprised the Republicans were staging a high-profile event on the nuclear waste bill, a bill headed for defeat.

"The Republican leadership is in the pocket of the nuclear industry," Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said. "The quid pro quo is that the nuclear industry rewards them with campaign money, so they have to put on this tremendous show. This is a big payday for the Republican leadership."

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., agreed that Republicans seem to be cozying up to the nuclear industry when they should be tackling pressing issues such as HMO reform or prescription drug benefits.

"It's pretty clear what their priorities are," Bryan said.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the attempt to embarrass Clinton into signing the bill would backfire.

"They are the ones who should be embarrassed," Reid said. "This great victory of theirs will bring tens of millions (of citizens) within a railroad track or a highway of the most dangerous substance known to man -- plutonium. They should be ashamed.

"They should enjoy themselves now," Reid said, "because they won't be smiling when the President vetoes it."

Enrollment ceremonies are reserved for "high-profile legislation," said John Feehery, a Hastert spokesman. Republican leaders hold the ceremonies five to eight times a year, Feehery said. Enrollment ceremonies were held in the last year on issues including the Social Security earnings limit, the Social Security "lockbox" proposal and state flexibility in education spending.