Ensign wants Bush to clarify position on Yucca

Friday, May 12, 2000 | 9:01 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Senate candidate John Ensign wants Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the Republican presidential contender, to clear up whether he would veto a bill lowering radiation standards to start a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain.

Ensign, a former Republican congressman, told reporters Thursday he has already started "to follow up" in asking Bush to specifically say what he would do on a bill that passed Congress but was vetoed by President Clinton.

Ensign, who officially filed his candidacy for the Senate on Thursday, said he assumed Bush would disapprove that bill because the Texas governor said in a statement this week that decisions on nuclear waste disposal should be based on science and not politics.

"We want to clarify that," Ensign said.

But based on Bush's statement, Ensign felt the presidential candidate would "absolutely" reject the nuclear waste bill.

Ensign's "clarification" statement was similar to remarks made by Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, who said Bush failed to answer whether he would veto the legislation to weaken the health and safety standards at Yucca Mountain.

The two Democratic senators also questioned whether Bush would veto an interim storage plan for Nevada.

Ensign said it is unfortunate the nuclear waste issue has become partisan. He said, though, that if he is elected, he would work with party members in an effort to shelve the Yucca Mountain project.

Asked when he might expect that "clarification" from Bush, Ensign said he did not know.

Bush, in a May 3 letter to Gov. Kenny Guinn, said, "As president, I would not sign legislation that would send nuclear waste to any proposed site unless it's been deemed scientifically safe."

Ensign said he has collected about $2.7 million of the $5 million budgeted to win the seat to succeed Bryan, who is retiring.

Two years ago Ensign was defeated by Sen. Harry Reid by 401 votes. In that campaign he said he was outspent 2-1.

Ensign said he and Reid have already "buried the hatchet" and said some of the prominent supporters of former Republican Sen. Paul Laxalt, who backed Reid the last time out, are behind Ensign this time.

Ensign has already launched a $200,000 television advertisement, but he didn't place it on Hispanic television stations. When asked why, he said it wasn't in the plan and that he will spend a lot of money advertising on Hispanic stations. He said he has not written off the Hispanic vote and emphasized he was appealing to every minority group.

On other issues, he said he believed marriage should be between a man and a woman but he won't sign the initiative petition banning gay marriage.

"I don't sign petitions," he said.

Ensign said he favors continuing the ban on taxation of the Internet.

"It's free and it's booming," he said.

Nevada is losing an increasing amount of sales taxes from purchases through the Internet from merchants outside the state.

"They are supposed to pay a use tax" on the goods purchased outside Nevada and then brought into the state, Ensign said.

Eliminating the federal Department of Education is not going to happen, he said, but he wants to see the influence of the federal government decreased on education.

"They're ruining special education," he said, adding that the federal government requires reports and other things that teachers "don't have time to teach."

In other filings, Tierey Cahill, a sixth grade public school teacher in Reno, submitted her candidacy to run for the Democratic nomination for the House against incumbent Republican Jim Gibbons. The 32-year-old divorced mother of three children said her campaign started out as a class project.

She said she wanted to show that an "everyday worker" without political connections and a large bankroll could run for office. She doesn't have any campaign funds so far.

Cahill said Gibbons is "a good man and I don't want to pick on him."

"I don't like the idea of Nevada being a garbage site," she said, referring to the location of the proposed nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain. She said she wanted to gather more scientific information before taking a definite stand on the issue.

This is her first run for public office.

Ernie Berghof, 64, an ironworker employed in building the Aladdin hotel-casino in Las Vegas, filed for the U.S. Senate on the Independent American Party ticket. Berghof said this is his first try for public office and he hopes to be a candidate of change.

"We're going down the drain," he said about the nation. But he said he is not ready to talk about issues.

Cy Ryan covers state government for the Sun. He can be reached at (775) 687-5032.