Lobbyist says Daschle, Ensign spat hurts fight

Benjamin Grove

Friday, March 22, 2002 | 9:53 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The political spat between Nevada's Republican Sen. John Ensign and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is a "distraction" to the state's fight against the Yucca Mountain project, Nevada's top Democratic lobbyist said Thursday.

"We ought to be working together to get the 51 (Senate) votes," Podesta said.

Ensign this week has repeated a vow to keep pressure on Daschle to live up to a vow that the Yucca project was "dead." Daschle is helping Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., convince Democratic senators to vote against the project.

Daschle on Thursday for a third day in a row stressed that he would not be able to single-handedly block the Yucca project as majority leader, as Ensign has said.

Daschle pointed to a federal law originally drafted in 1982 that established clear rules for voting on the Yucca project and allow any senator to call for a vote on the measure.

"I would ask Sen. Ensign to go back and be more careful about his public remarks until he has studied the current set of circumstances," Daschle said.

Daschle put pressure back on Ensign to convince Republicans to oppose Yucca.

"There are only two declared Republicans now in opposition: Sen. Ensign and Sen. (Ben Nighthorse) Campbell (Colo.)," Daschle said. "So if (Democrats) get a majority, I would hope (Ensign) could get a majority and we could defeat this legislation."

Daschle on Wednesday said that he had not understood the details of the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act when, 10 months ago at a Las Vegas fund-raiser, he said the Yucca project was dead as long as he and Reid, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, were in charge.

Ensign this week issued a two-paragraph press release saying, "All Nevadans expect him to keep his word."

What initially seemed like mere confusion over Senate procedure took on a political tone as Ensign and Daschle traded comments in the media, and then Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., jumped into the mix.

"It is my hope Sen. Daschle did not lie during his fund-raising trip to Nevada last year, and that he will keep his promise that under his leadership, Yucca Mountain will die," Gibbons said in a written statement Thursday.

The Ensign-Daschle tiff "portends badly" for the Yucca fight, Podesta said. Daschle cannot block a vote if another senator calls for one, Podesta said.

"It is impossible for Daschle to avoid any votes on this," Podesta said.

Nevada's Republican anti-Yucca lobbyist, Ken Duberstein, who is working closely with Ensign, did not return phone calls this week. Podesta said he and Reid aim to line up 35 to 36 Democrats to vote against the Yucca project, Podesta said.