Lott says Yucca will pass

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, April 10, 2002 | 10:56 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republican leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., confidently predicted Tuesday that Democratic attempts to block a vote on a Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository would surely fail and that "at least 60 senators" would vote to approve it.

Lott's comments fell on the first day of a 90-day period in which Congress is required by law to vote on the controversial project.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats led by Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Majority Whip Harry Reid, D-Nev., are plotting to kill the project in various ways, most undisclosed. Daschle vowed Tuesday to first urge the Senate's 50 Democrats to simply not call for a vote on the issue.

That ploy will fail, Lott said, because any GOP senator can call for a vote.

"The way (federal law) is set up under an expedited procedure, there is no way a vote can be avoided," Lott, a repository advocate, said.

Lott could not say exactly when a Yucca vote would happen. He said the issue will compete with a number of other Senate priorities in the next 90 days, but ultimately will be placed on the Senate calendar in time for action.

"I wouldn't want to push it until the end (of 90 days)," Lott told reporters Monday. "We do have a lot to do, so we'll have to see."

After meeting with GOP senators at a weekly luncheon, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham urged Republican senators to quickly approve the repository.

After carefully studying the results of years of research, he said he is "absolutely convinced we can move ahead with this project."

The "independent" Nuclear Regulatory Commission, not Congress, should have the final say on Yucca Mountain, he said.

The controversial project entered its final trek through Congress Tuesday. Lawmakers have 90 days to act after Gov. Kenny Guinn vetoed President Bush's approval of the project, which occurred Monday. It marked the first time a governor had vetoed a president.

Congress' vote will be on a resolution to approve the Yucca Mountain site. On Tuesday Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., introduced a six-line resolution that was referred to his Senate Energy Committee.

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, is expected to introduce a resolution into the House in the next few days.

Sources say Reid has forged some sort of deal with Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., Senate Energy Committee chairman, who apparently agreed to shelve the bill in committee for nearly 60 days. At that point by law it would be discharged to the floor automatically, with or without a panel vote.

Still, that would buy Nevada's senators a delay in which to continue lobbying their colleagues. Reid and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., need 49 other senators to vote with them to kill Yucca.

Daschle said he and Reid were lining up "well over" 30 Democrats to vote against Yucca. Daschle on Tuesday again called on Ensign to round up 20 Republicans. That's a huge longshot -- so far Ensign reportedly has one, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo.

If the House and Senate approve the resolution -- effectively overriding Guinn's historic veto -- the Yucca project would lurch forward toward licensing with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, site construction and a possible 2010 opening.

If a simple majority of lawmakers in one chamber votes against the resolution, the project dies.

The Senate is considered the only Yucca battleground; the House is expected to overwhelmingly approve the project. Still, Reps. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., are trying to drum up support among their parties. This week Berkley enlisted House Democratic Whip Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to help her corral votes.

House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., who also supports Berkley's efforts, met today with Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera, who is also running for Congress.

Guinn on Tuesday wrapped up a 36-hour national media blitz in the nation's capital, with press conferences at the U.S. Capitol and National Press Club.

Guinn, accompanied by Gibbons, met Tuesday with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., a Yucca advocate who offered the governor 10 minutes as a courtesy.

Guinn also met with Daschle, who reportedly told him the pressure was on Guinn and Ensign to corral Republican senators. Guinn met with one GOP member during his trip: Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri, a former governor. If Yucca is ultimately approved, waste would be hauled through Missouri on its way to Yucca Mountain and state officials there are concerned about waste transportation risks.

But Bond didn't have good news for Guinn. Bond told Guinn about his record of voting in favor of Yucca legislation in the past.

"He is not saying he would change his mind, but said he would be very, very interested in the (Senate) hearings," Guinn said.

Guinn will meet with other GOP senators at the direction of Reid and Ensign, but Guinn said he did not know when he would be back in Washington.

Ensign on Tuesday followed Guinn's appearance on CNN's "Lou Dobbs Moneyline" and "American Morning with Paula Zahn."

Appearing on the cable station's combative "Crossfire" program, Ensign disputed host Robert Novak's claim that the gaming industry is the only force opposed to Yucca Mountain.

"This has to do with the state of Nevada," Ensign said. "The Legislature has appropriated most of the money for this."

Ensign added the gaming industry has contributed less than 10 percent of Nevada's total money to fight the proposed dump.

"Crossfire" pitted high-profile pro-Yucca lobbyist John Sununu, a former White House chief of staff to the former President George Bush, against Ensign, and unlikely Ensign ally James Carville, liberal pundit and Democratic consultant.

The panel sparred over science and other issues. Sununu said that the government has spent $4 billion "worth of science and technology" to prepare Yucca Mountain during the past 20 years.

Ensign said there are still 293 scientific and technical problems that must to be answered before the Energy Department can apply to the NRC for a license to operate the repository.

"No," Sununu fired back. "During the licensing."

Novak tried to get the last word, arguing, "Yes, senator, but you don't have the votes."

"Yes we do," Ensign said, trying to make a point as the segment ended.

Ensign and his staff were immediately unavailable to comment on the statement this morning.

In other news Tuesday, Nevada officials said nationally noted GOP pollster Frank Luntz has been hired to help lobby Republicans. Details of his contract or compensation were not immediately available.

Luntz has worked in Nevada before, conducting research for Mirage Resorts Inc. in 2000 to determine support for a professional sports arena or a performing arts center. Luntz is also nationally known for his town-hall surveys on the presidential campaign for NBC News.

Sun reporter Erin Neff contributed to this story.