Reid goes on offensive in support of Gallagher

Kirsten Searer

Monday, Oct. 25, 2004 | 9:38 a.m.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has come out swinging for struggling congressional candidate Tom Gallagher, saying that Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., has indicated he is giving up on the fight against Yucca Mountain in Congress.

Porter has said in two television debates that the fight against Yucca Mountain will not be won in the halls of Congress, saying too many states support the project. The best way to fight it, Porter said, is through the court system, pointing to recent successes by Attorney General Brian Sandoval.

Reid called the comments "foolishness."

"Congress has tremendous power," Reid said, adding that the comments signalled "ignorance or total lack of understanding of what Congress is all about."

"Jon making the statement he did is just really kind of scary," Reid said.

In the congressional candidates' final television showdown on Sunday, Porter pointed out that he has fought Yucca Mountain since 1983 and helped stop Congress from sending waste to Yucca Mountain as an interim storage place.

But he once again pointed out that most states want to put waste at Yucca Mountain, making it difficult to win the battle in Congress.

"We're going to keep fighting it in the halls of Congress, of course," Porter said. "Because there's going to be attempts by different members of different parties to fund Yucca Mountain, there's no question that that's going to happen. At the end of the day we're going to win this in court."

Gallagher said he expects Congress to take up the issue again after the election, when he said President Bush likely will ask Congress to loosen EPA standards on the project. Porter, he said, cannot continue supporting the administration while fighting Yucca Mountain.

Porter said he disagrees with President Bush on Yucca Mountain but agrees with Bush on issues including education and getting people back to work.

He pointed out that Democratic Presidential contender John Kerry voted for the so-called "Screw Nevada bill" that designated Yucca Mountain as the site where the country wanted to store nuclear waste. Kerry has since said he would stop Yucca Mountain if elected president.

"I think its a draw -- both of those men are against Nevada when it coes to Yucca Mountain," Porter said. "We just have to continue the fight and work with our delegation, work with our attorney general."

A new energy bill also provides subsidies to build new nuclear power plants that will generate more nuclear waste, Gallagher said.

Porter countered that the energy bill was the first comprehensive energy plan passed in two decades, and it provides incentives for Nevada to develop new energy from geothermal, wind and solar sources "to make sure we can create additional revenue, additional jobs for Nevada."

Porter continued to try to prove that Gallagher is not well versed in Nevada issues, asking Gallagher if he knew about the Nevada Plan, which funds education, and the state's air quality division.

Gallagher shot back that he knew the Bush administration has placed tight regulations on educators through the No Child Left Behind Act without giving them the proper funding to comply.

"The fundamental problem that we have is we have children in high school that have no textbooks," Gallagher said.

And he said he worked on clean air and clean water legislation when he was chief counsel for former California Sen. John Tunney in the 1970s.

"My history on clean air and clean water goes well back into the early 1970s when we were passing the legislation that has in fact been the basis of a lot good work that's happened in the meantime," Gallagher said.

Later, Porter said the point he is making is that the state deserves representation from someone who has lived here longer than seven years, as Gallagher has.

"I just firmly believe that you have to spend time in our community," Porter said. "You have to spend time in our schools, you have to understand our water issues, you have to understand our energy issues."

Bringing up the issue again, Porter added: "I'm just disappointed that there isn't some understanding of all these things that affect our family -- especially air quality."

Porter's television advertisements have criticised Gallagher for renting a home in Congressional District 3. Gallagher said he lived six houses down from the district lines and decided to rent a home while he was busy campaigning.

"I think its a slap at every person who has moved here over the last few years to say that somehow you have to be here for 20 years in order to understand the issues," Gallagher said, adding that he knows the district because he has walked it end to end for the past eight months.

Porter said he is glad that Gallagher is living the American Dream by having several homes, including on Lake Tahoe and one in Summerlin.

"We want to make sure people move here," Porter said. "But when it comes to making decisions running for Congress or an elected position I think you need to have an understanding. You need to make sure that you understand."

Gallagher also continued to press Porter on a vote he made against a $1,500 pay increase for troops serving in Iraq. Porter had said the money had to be earmarked for body protection and hydration equipment for troops.

"The $1,500 sounds good on the surface but the $1,500 had to come from someplace," Porter said, adding that he voted for two other military pay increases.

Gallagher balked, pointing to a Congressional record showing that the money for the bonus would have come from money set aside to import petroleum products into Iraq.

"Jon, you're simply not telling the truth," Gallagher said.

Polls continue to show a wide gap between Porter and Gallagher, who has seen his numbers drop as Porter has run ads against him, including ads saying that Gallagher took more than $3 million in salary and stocks as CEO of Park Place Entertainment soon after the company laid off 2,100 workers. Park Place Entertainment is now Caesars Entertainment.

Porter's campaign officials argue that those might be the most devastating ads against the former gaming executive.

That's one area where Reid has taken umbrage, saying Gallagher was only rivaled by gaming executive Steve Wynn in how well he treated his employees.

"All these allegations about what Tom did when he was at Caesars Palace are draconian double talk," Reid said.