Reid assumes temporary role as majority whip

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Jan. 4, 2001 | 11:18 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Wednesday was officially promoted from minority whip to majority whip -- at least for the next 16 days.

Reid does not intend to abuse his new power, he said.

"The golden rule is my motto," Reid said. "I want to treat people the way I want to be treated."

Reid, as the No. 2 ranking Democrat, has been minority whip, often managing bills on the floor and rounding up Democrats for votes. But Democrats temporarily became the "majority" party in the Senate on Wednesday.

That's because this year's session of Congress is split with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, with the vice president breaking tie votes. That job falls to Democratic Vice President Gore until Jan. 20, when President-elect George W. Bush is inaugurated and Dick Cheney becomes vice president.

Until then Reid, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Ethics Committee, the Environment and Public Works Committee, and the Appropriations subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, will be chairman of those panels.

"Not a bad promotion, even if it is only for 17 days," Reid said in a statement Wednesday.

Reid will wield his chairman's gavel for at least one high-profile hearing: The environment committee is scheduled to hold a confirmation hearing the week of Jan. 15 for Bush's nominee for Environmental Protection Agency chief.

New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican, will field some tough questions from Reid's panel. Reid said he expects Whitman will "sail through" the Senate confirmation process.

Still, Reid wants to quiz her on several topics, notably where she stands on radiation standards for the proposed nuclear waste site at Yucca Mountain.

Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the controversial proposed site of the nation's first nuclear waste dump. A number of issues must be resolved before the site would begin accepting 77,000 tons of the nation's nuclear waste.

One issue is how much radiation could safely be released from Yucca in order to protect those living and drawing water nearby. The EPA has thus far backed a strict 15 millirem standard, with a separate 4 millirem standard for ground water. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has backed a 25 millirem standard for both the repository and ground water.

The agencies have openly disagreed about the standard, sometimes vexing Congress. Neither agency has finalized its proposed standard.

The EPA standard is too strict, Yucca proponents say. But Nevada officials support the strictest safety standard possible.

Reid also plans a private meeting with Whitman, possibly Friday.

Reid joked about a bandage covering 18 stitches in his forehead -- the result of striking it on a low-hanging staircase as he walked through a narrow passageway.

"Some say it may have knocked some sense into me," Reid said.