Monday, April 29, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
A temporary nuclear waste storage facility targeted for Nevada has been put on hold for at least a year, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., said today in Las Vegas.
"If it can't get through the Senate, there's no point in our bringing it up," Gingrich said at a campaign fund-raiser for Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., at The Mirage hotel-casino.
The bill Gingrich referred to would require the Department of Energy to build a temporary facility at the Nevada Test Site for use by 1999. The site, which Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., criticized as a "mobile Chernobyl," would store radioactive waste for up to 100 years, while a permanent storage site was found.
Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, has been targeted as a permanent site to store radioactive waste produced at the nation's civilian nuclear reactors.
Last week, Ensign told a Las Vegas radio audience that Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, the presumed GOP presidential candidate, has canceled a vote on the temporary storage bill this year. President Clinton has said he would veto the bill.
Also at the fund-raiser, Gingrich defended a national gaming commission proposed by Congress. He said the commission should be granted power to subpoena casino personnel and records. However, Gingrich anticipated that federal oversight could be minimized if casinos are regulated effectively at the state level.
"As long as (gaming) is adequately supervised, and you have the control you have here in Nevada," the industry should be allowed to operate relatively unfettered, Gingrich said.
Nevada Democrats, who hope Gingrich's mounting unpopularity will rub off on Ensign, scheduled a news conference following Gingrich's speech to highlight the speaker's controversial positions on volatile issues.
A poll published in the Wall Street Journal in March indicated that 54 percent of Americans believe Gingrich is "too extreme." Among the groups critical of Gingrich are senior citizens, who blame the Republican House for cuts in the Medicare budget. Many seniors rely on Medicare to pay health care bills.
However, Gingrich has proved that negative ratings have not hampered his fund-raising abilities and has embarked on a West Coast swing to raise money for Republicans in vulnerable seats.
Democrats, who need 20 seats to regain control of the House, have targeted Ensign as the fourth most vulnerable Republican freshman. Ensign won election in 1994 by less than 1 percent of the vote in a district that now has 30,000 more Democratic voters than Republican.
Ensign has told the SUN he invited Gingrich to Las Vegas, despite the speaker's poor showing in public opinion polls. Ensign said voters will associate him with Gingrich's negatives anyway, so he decided to take advantage of Gingrich's fund-raising abilities.
The event today attracted about 400 supporters paying $100 per plate. Ensign, who represents the mostly urban Las Vegas 1st Congressional District, has already amassed $488,000 in campaign contributions, about seven times more than his chief Democratic rival, state Sen. Bob Coffin.
After his speech, Gingrich joined Ensign at a news conference to present a $31,500 check to the nonprofit Shade Tree Shelter, an emergency facility for women and children in Las Vegas. The money came from donations made by casinos and other businesses.
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