Enemies of nuke dump take to podium

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Aug. 17, 2000 | 11:13 a.m.

LOS ANGELES -- Nevada Democrats are using a brief moment in the spotlight at the Democratic National Convention to deliver a pointed message to delegates from other states: We don't want your nuclear waste dumped at Yucca Mountain -- and Al Gore represents our best chance of keeping it out.

"I want to thank Al Gore and Joe Lieberman for standing opposed to legislation that would discard radiation safety standards and rush high-level nuclear waste to a dumpsite in Southern Nevada," Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said during a three-minute speech at the podium in Staples Center. "They say no to this dangerous and irresponsible legislation, in stark contrast to the Republican platform that demands it."

The convention offers political leaders and candidates from every state -- city council members, state lawmakers, U.S. senators -- a moment on the dais, even though the convention hall is almost empty during the afternoons.

The speakers praise the Gore-Lieberman ticket, sound off on a few key issues in their states and hometowns and often get in a dig or two at the Republicans.

Berkley and Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera took the microphone Wednesday; Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates will speak today. So will Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

His speech, scheduled for 4:30 p.m., will not make it into network prime time. The senator will outline his youth growing up in small-town Searchlight and praise his longtime friend Al Gore, aides said.

"He'll contrast Al Gore's stance on nuclear waste with (GOP presidential candidate) George Bush," said Reid spokesman Mark Schuermann, one of several aides who helped him craft the five- to six-minute talk. "Bush will play a prominent role in the speech."

Herrera, a former Nevada assemblyman who is stepping up the ladder of Democratic politics in the state, carefully chose to praise the state's leading Democrats for battling the federal plan to bury the nation's nuclear waste under Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

The likes of Berkley and Reid, Sen. Richard Bryan, former Gov. Bob Miller and Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa have "fought hard to keep nuclear waste from threatening the safety of our families -- as leading Nevada Republicans champion a presidential candidate and a party that will pave the way along our roads and past our homes and schools -- for the storage of nuclear waste in Nevada," Herrera said during an afternoon speech.

Gates plans to paint Democrats as champions of education and blast Bush for supporting charter schools and voucher programs that would funnel public school money to private schools.

"If Al Gore is elected, he will take the bold steps to make sure we get adequate funding for public schools," Gates said during an interview.

Berkley said the record growth of her Las Vegas district "fueled by the economic boom of the last eight years" includes skyrocketing populations of schoolchildren and seniors who need modernized schools and prescription medication benefits covered by Medicare.

Berkley also called for a patients' bill of rights that would protect patients from the whims of health maintenance organizations.

"Americans are demanding that they and their doctors, not insurance company bureaucrats, be allowed to make the decisions about medical care," Berkley said.