Yucca is lead issue as Kerry visits Las Vegas

Cy Ryan and Stephen Curran

Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2004 | 11:10 a.m.

Tickets for today's "Believe in America" rally can be picked up at the Las Vegas Democratic Headquarters at 1325 E. Vegas Valley Drive or downloaded at www.nvdems.com. The rally is at 6 p.m. at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Yucca Mountain was expected to be front and center this morning when Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry addressed a group of community leaders and citizens living along the route to the proposed nuclear waste dump.

Kerry was to speak to a group of invited people at a closed forum at Ralph Cadwallader Middle School in northwest Las Vegas this morning to discuss the economic and health effects of the proposed repository.

It was the first event of a two-day stop in Las Vegas for the Massachusetts senator, who has been in the state two times this election season.

Kerry is scheduled to speak at a rally today at the Thomas & Mack Center. The event begins at 6 p.m. and is expected to draw between 8,000 and 10,000 people, Sean Smith, communications director for Kerry's Nevada campaign, said.

Because of security checks, people are encouraged to arrive early.

The Las Vegas visit comes on the 12th day of Kerry's "Believe in America" tour, which has criss-crossed the country after last month's Democratic National Convention in Boston.

Kerry was in Arizona on Monday, and his bus caravan drove into Las Vegas late Monday night, arriving at the Bellagio. He is expected to be in town through Wednesday morning.

Before leaving Wednesday afternoon, Kerry is scheduled to address a group of Henderson seniors in another closed-door forum, Smith said. The senator is expected to discuss his plan to combat rising prescription drug costs.

Kerry will be followed into town by President Bush on Thursday. Bush has been in town once this campaign season.

Nevada has garnered the attention, becoming a so-called battleground state, because of the close vote in 2000, when Bush beat then-Vice President Al Gore by 3.5 percentage points in Nevada.

Yucca Mountain has been a key part of the debate in the state.

Democrats have criticized Bush for approving Yucca Mountain in 2002, and the party's national platform includes a plank promising to "protect" Nevada against nuclear waste.

Kerry has pledged to stop the plans for the repository if he's elected and has made that a key distinction in the state between himself and Bush, who authorized the plan.

At a press conference in Minden on Monday, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., conceded that the Democratic presidential nominee is "getting some support" in Nevada for his opposition to the nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain.

Ensign added that Nevadans should not trust Kerry because of his flip-flops in the past on Yucca Mountain and other national issues.

When campaigning in Nevada four years ago, Bush said he would depend on "sound science" in making a decision. Democrats have called Bush's statement a "lie."

Ensign is opposed to Yucca Mountain, and on the Aug. 2 edition of the "Face to Face With Jon Ralston," Ensign said "on this one issue, he's been better than George Bush, but that's on one issue."

But Monday, Ensign said, "we don't know" if Kerry would change his position on Yucca Mountain if he were elected president. His record "is not as pure" as he makes it out to be, Ensign said.

As he has repeatedly in recent weeks, Ensign noted that Kerry voted for the "Screw Nevada" bill that singled out this state as the only one to be studied as a dump site. In 1996, Kerry opposed more stringent environmental standards for Yucca Mountain, and in 1997 he voted against an amendment by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., that would have given governors the right to stop the transfer of nuclear waste through their states, Ensign said.

Kerry also opposed an amendment to allow more money for more oversight for the development of Yucca Mountain, Ensign said.

Smith disputed Ensign's charges.

"They're (Ensign's claims) laughable really," Smith said. "John Kerry has a very clear record of opposing Yucca Mountain. He has pledged to stop it if he's president. We're amused that he (Ensign) keeps bringing this up."

Ensign said Yucca Mountain is not the only issue on which Kerry has a credibility problem. At Monday's press conference, Ensign launched into an echo of the Republican party line attack on Kerry. Kerry voted for the Patriot Act and now he's against it, and Kerry voted for No Child Left Behind but now he opposes it, Ensign said.

At the news conference, a video was shown on Kerry's apparent shifting position on Iraq.

"It seems he (Kerry) will say anything and do anything to get elected," Ensign said. "But we really don't know where he stands and that's why we cannot trust John Kerry when it comes to his position on nuclear waste."

"It's one thing in your early career feeling one way and then you change and evolve like that. But he evolves back and forth."