Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2001 | 9:29 a.m.
HIS IS a lone voice. But it is the right voice.
The headline in Monday's Sun said, "Reid lone dissenter at Abraham hearing."
That's lone as in alone, all by yourself, the only senator in the entire U.S. Senate to say "no" to President George W. Bush's choice for energy secretary. It wasn't as critical as being the only dissenting vote on a declaration of war, but what Harry Reid stood up for when he turned thumbs down to Spencer Abraham was every bit as much a declaration of some kind of war as Nevadans may ever face.
I don't know what it is going to take to convince our elected leadership -- not ordinary citizens because they get it in a big way -- that the people who live and work in this state and who dream of raising their families here for a very long time don't want anything to do with the government's plans to bury the nation's high-level nuclear waste just a few miles from Las Vegas. I don't know what it is going to take to get the message -- to those who toil in Carson City on our behalf and those who travel back and forth to Washington, D.C., to represent our interests -- that nuclear garbage doesn't belong in the Silver State and that Nevadans will have absolutely no use for any politician who doesn't do all that he or she can do to stop the onslaught to our health and safety. The threat is being orchestrated by the nuclear power companies, with the connivanc e and support of the Congress and, I fear, the White House.
But whatever it does take, there are hundreds of thousands of us who live here who are willing to do it, even if others get tired along the way. You can get tired, by the way, by giving in to the siren call of money, the lure of political power and the simple lack of an attention span long enough to understand the argument. Nevada's fight against this nuclear garbage dump is moving into the hand-to-hand stage, so if you are tired and want to quit, this might be a good time to make a tail-between-the-legs exit.
That kind of cut-and-run attitude, though, is not what has made Nevada the envy of the rest of the country, both in its attitude toward hard work and creativity and in its invitation to all those who desire to make better of their lives. No, what Nevadans have always prided themselves on is their belief that what they are doing is right, and that what is right is worth fighting for.
That's why Harry Reid's vote -- which he knew was symbolic at best -- means so much to the people who look to him for leadership on this and so many other issues. It would have been easy to say, "We have to be the new secretary of energy's friend so, therefore, we must be unfaithful to our principles and vote for the man who has consistently and without regard for Nevada voted to bury us beneath a radioactive mountain of garbage." Easy, yes. But oh, so wrong.
Read Harry's words that preceded his vote:
"As a senator from Michigan, he voted repeatedly to ship nuclear waste to the state of Nevada despite the overwhelming evidence that such a move was being made without regard for sound science and public health and safety ... He voted to ship nuclear waste to Nevada notwithstanding the fact that there is no safe route for the transportation of high-level nuclear waste through states and cities and towns in America.
"He supported an industry-backed bill that would have expedited delivery of nuclear waste to Nevada on an interim basis. He even supported overriding President Clinton's veto of a bill that would have weakened the EPA's role in establishing the appropriate radiation standards at Yucca Mountain ... The decision on the designation of a permanent nuclear waste repository rests with the secretary of energy ...
"This decision and others relating to Yucca Mountain must be made without bias. Regrettably, Secretary-designee Abraham's record as a senator and his testimony before the Energy Committee as a nominee lead me to believe that he may not be capable of such impartiality on a very important issue."
It has to be abundantly clear to all within range that as secretary of energy, Spencer Abraham -- like he was in the Senate -- will not be our friend. It should also scare the heck out of Nevadans that the man who appointed him to this most important job, President George W. Bush, is also either not a friend or completely out of tune with the dreams and aspirations of Nevadans. Let us hope it is the latter so that a concerted effort may educate him about our needs.
Until that time, though, we need politicians who are not afraid of the tough stands and who are willing to suffer the little voices that most assuredly come from "lone" votes during a presidential honeymoon. Harry has never been shy when it came to standing up for what is right. He was right on this one, and nothing the rest of the Senate can do -- even voting unanimously against him -- will change the truth.
There was something about that headline, though, that should bother most Nevadans. It said that Harry's was a "lone" vote against Abraham. There are two United States senators from Nevada. That means there are two people who should have had the courage of their convictions and the best interests of Nevadans at heart when they cast their votes. Only one of them voted "no."
What happened to the junior senator from Nevada? Where was he when it was time to stand side by side with Harry Reid on behalf of all Nevadans? Where was Sen. John Ensign when it was time to do the right thing?
Where, oh, where could he have been?
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