Berkley e-mail seeking Yucca support broke House rules

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, May 7, 2002 | 9:01 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- An unnamed aide in the office of Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., sent an official e-mail to other lawmakers that broke congressional rules by seeking political favors, Berkley aides say.

The e-mail was sent last week to a number of Berkley's Democratic House allies, soliciting their support for Berkley's fight against the Yucca Mountain project. A House vote on the nuclear waste dump plan is expected Wednesday. "Dear Colleague" correspondence is common in Congress when lawmakers want to urge support or opposition to a bill.

But the e-mail also noted that the Yucca vote "will have a direct effect on my Congressional race and on the new highly competitive third Congressional district." Berkley is running for her third term against Republican Las Vegas City Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald, and she supports Democratic candidate Dario Herrera over Republican Jon Porter in the race for Nevada's new third House seat.

"I am asking you to help me and Dario Herrera, the Democratic candidate for Nevada's open seat, by joining with us to whip Members into opposing the Yucca Mountain resolution," Berkley's e-mail said. "Every Democratic vote counts and helps us politically."

Using House e-mail for political gain is not permitted under House rules. Berkley did not know about the content of the e-mail and the staff has been reprimanded, Berkley spokesman Michael O'Donovan said.

"It didn't go through the normal channels," O'Donovan said of the e-mail. "It was a staffer screw-up."'

O'Donovan said the error was corrected the following day when the e-mail was rewritten and re-sent without the references to the political races. Berkley aides also contacted the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to notify the panel of the error.

Committee staffers told Berkley's office to reimburse the House for any expenses, but it was difficult to assign a monetary value to sending an e-mail, O'Donovan said. So Berkley sent the House what it would have cost if Berkley had sent the message to the Democratic colleagues by first class mail: about $15, O'Donovan said.

Berkley has often noted that the House Republican leaders -- not Democrats -- are pushing the Yucca Mountain proposal. The full House is expected to overwhelmingly approve the Yucca project in Wednesday's vote, with both Democrats and Republicans voting for the plan. But Berkley has noted that far more Democrats than Republicans intend to vote in opposition.

Herrera has tried to gain traction on the Yucca Mountain issue by arguing that he has been more effective than his opponent in battling the dump project. Berkley held an anti-Yucca strategy meeting last week in her office with Democratic Whip Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and staffers from a dozen offices of Democratic allies. Herrera, who is lobbying certain members of Congress against the Yucca project, joined that strategy meeting via conference call.