Porter adapting to rigors of life as a congressman

Suzanne Struglinski

Friday, Nov. 28, 2003 | 10:58 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- He still prefers to be called Jon.

But more than a year after voters elected sent Jon Porter to Washington, his name now rarely appears without "Rep." before it and "R-Nev." after it.

People call him "Congressman."

"It's been a real honor over and above the excitement to be the first member in a new congressional district for the state of Nevada ... realizing the responsibility that I have to do the best that I can, and it's also very humbling because of that responsibility," Porter said in his Washington office.

"I can't tell you that all of a sudden I woke up one day and felt I was a congressman. I'm only as good as my last project in helping people."

Porter won Nevada's new seat, the 3rd Congressional District, last year, and since taking his oath of office on Jan. 7, Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., has technically had only one success he can claim as his own: naming a Boulder City post office after Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury. But he can list other major projects of his he wants to see completed.

Six other bills with his name on them sit in various places in the legislative pipeline waiting for consideration. President Bush signed the Woodbury post office bill earlier this month, marking Porter's first sponsored bill to go all the way through Congress.

Bills introduced this year can still be taken up in 2004, but Porter will have to win re-election to work on anything after that.

If the Democrats have any sway, he won't. Rebecca Lambe, executive director of the Nevada Democratic Party, said Porter's 3rd District seat is a "top priority nationally" and that the Democrats are working to recruit a strong candidate to challenge the congressman.

Porter has amassed $402,331 so far for his re-election, according to the Oct. 15 filing to the Federal Election Commission. Of that $1,763 came from political party committees and $333,144 from other political committees.

As for Porter's work in his first term, Ted Jelen, political science professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said the congressman, a former state senator and Boulder City mayor and councilman, has not done much, "which is about all you can expect from a freshman."

Jelen said Porter is "very inoffensive" and right now "he is not in a position to deliver a lot of pork barrel projects."

"His image out here is innocuous, but that's not necessarily a bad thing," Jelen said. "There's just not much information on him."

But his decision to change his vote on an amendment for military bonuses in October and support for various Republican initiatives caught Lambe's attention.

"I am not sure what Jon Porter has really accomplished except supporting a tax policy that creates a record deficit and jeopardizes the future of Medicare and Social Security and could force seniors into HMOs to get prescriptions," Lambe said "He also did manage to make sure that troops that served in Iraq didn't get a much-deserved bonus."

Porter changed his vote and helped kill an amendment to the $87 million Iraqi supplemental spending bill that would have provided $1,500 bonuses to military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Porter says he was not pressured to switch his vote, but decided to do so after learning of other benefits for soldiers in the bill. Fellow Nevada House Republican Jim Gibbons also voted against the amendment while Democrat Shelley Berkley voted for it.

Porter says his top issues are stopping the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage site, improving education and helping the unemployed.

His first bill to pass out of the Education and the Workforce Committee, where he holds a seat, was the Back to Work Incentive Act. As part of President Bush's economic plan, the act would provide $3,000 each unemployed person to use to look for a job, get job training, pay for moving expenses or child care.

"I was real excited to be working with president's agenda, to carry legislation and have it pass though committee. That was an exciting moment," Porter said. "It still has a long way to go. I understand that it takes time."

It's also taking time to explain to fellow members, especially those from smaller, Eastern states, Nevada's tremendous growth. It's hard for them to understand that almost 70,000 people are moving into Las Vegas each year, he said.

"When I say I have 12,000 new kids, they say, 'Well we have 1,200 new kids,' " Porter said. "They don't get it."

He wants to develop a strong, bipartisan cooperation among members from Western states that experience similar problems.

He sponsored an amendment to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, that would add an additional $2 billion for education programs aimed at disabled and disadvantaged children.

Porter also co-sponsored 98 pieces of legislation. Among them were bills that supported increased forgiveness of student loans for math, science and special education teachers and permanently funded payment in lieu of taxes programs, which pay states money to replace taxes not collected on federal land. He also supported a refundable tax credit for people who buy private health insurance and construction of a visitor center at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington.

He co-sponsored a bill with Gibbons that directed the Agriculture Department to put certain land in trust for the Washoe Tribe.

The president signed that into law in August.

He also recently co-sponsored a resolution with Berkley honoring magicians Siegfried & Roy.

And all three of Nevada's members of the House co-sponsored a bill earlier this year that calls for interagency planning for preparing for, defending against, and responding to the consequences of terrorist attacks against the Yucca Mountain Project, the Energy Department's plan to store 77,000 of nuclear waste about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The bill still waits for a hearing.

Yucca Mountain is the unifying issue among the three members.

Porter said one of his proudest moments came in July when he worked with Gibbons on the removal of the nuclear waste interim storage at Yucca Mountain through an amendment to the House Energy and Water appropriations bill.

"We can continue to fight this battle," Porter said.

"Every day when I walk up the steps on the east side of the Capitol, I grab a colleague and say, 'You know, we could put nuclear waste in that hole right there, you know, where the tourist center's going to go,' and they all go 'Oh, we can't do that!'

"I make sure they are reminded that this is still a No. 1 priority for our delegation and for our community."

Porter sponsored an amendment with Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., that would have reduced the Yucca budget by $30 million and funneled the money toward renewable energy projects. The amendment failed, but Porter said he was happy with the support he did get for the effort.

He said sees Nevada as a state "on the cutting edge of renewable technology," and is awaiting the outcome of the pending energy bill to see how it could benefit the state.

Gibbons, meanwhile, says having a third representative in the House is a "tremendous benefit for Nevada."

"We've got one more voice down in the trenches to fight nuclear waste, to fight for better schools" Gibbons said.

"Jon's worked hard for Nevada on the transportation committee," Gibbons said. "Nevada is far better off today than it was before.

Berkley, whom Porter challenged in 2000, also welcomes the help.

"We work well together when it comes to Yucca Mountain and transportation, we have a solid working relationship," she said.

Porter said: "Shelley's been great and has gone out of her way to make me feel welcome. We don't always agreed on particular issues because we all have our own philosophies, but when it comes to Nevada, it's Nevada first."

Berkley and Porter sit on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee together.

Berkley said they do have some philosophical differences on prescription drugs, benefits for veterans, and the way unemployment and education are funded.

Beyond legislation, Porter's office has also helped work with his new constituents that have trouble with Social Security checks, visas, veterans medals, Medicare and other problems with the federal government.

Porter also spent time with the Pokorney family during funeral services for Frederick E. Pokorney at Arlington National Cemetery. Pokorney, a Marine lieutenant, was killed near an-Nasiriyah in Iraq in March. Porter has also visited wounded soldiers.

"It really puts its all in perspective that every decision that we make is so integral and impacts families, moms and dads and children and the country and the world," Porter said.

"I just want to do a good job," Porter said. "I know I have to keep earning the respect of the community and the state. I know it can be very temporary.

"I want to be remembered as Jon, not as congressman."

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