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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Clinton Yucca Veto Victory For Reid
(Clinton vetoes nuclear-waste storage bill)
Denver CO Post 26Apr00 N2
By Bill McAllister: Denver Post Washington Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- LDS Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.) won a big political
victory again this year when President Clinton vetoed a bill that would
store the nation's nuclear waste in his state. The veto was expected
and Reid had earlier managed to keep the bill from passing by a veto-
proof margin. The veto leaves the issue of what to do with the nuclear
waste generated in the U.S. unresolved, at least until the next session
of Congress.
The U.S. Department of Energy has been working on its long-promised
review of the Yucca Mountain site, 90 miles north of Las Vegas. In the
meantime, Congress has tried unsuccessfully many times to pass the
legislation putting the nuclear waste dump there, but has always been
thwarted by Nevada's legislators, who have managed to keep the hated
proposal from passing.
Clinton told congress in his message explaining the veto that his
administration is still working on the issue, "My administration
remains committed to resolving the complex and important issue of
nuclear-waste disposal in a timely and sensible manner, consistent with
sound science and protection of public health, safety and the
environment."
But Republicans, who have tried repeatedly to get he site approved, say
that political favoratism is the real reason that Clinton vetoed the
bill. They claim that Clinton vetoed the bill as a favor to fellow
Democrat Reid. But White House spokesman Joe Lockhart rejected the
claim, "It's not just Sen. Harry Reid, it's a number of senators who
have have raised scientific questions that we haven't answered (about
the site)," he said. "This issue seems to come up now every year, and
we don't make any progress on it because those questions are
unanswered."
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