Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Name calling, the ‘doc fix’ and Miss Cherry Blossom: Nevada’s week in Congress

Harry Reid

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 14, 2015, following a Senate policy luncheon.

WASHINGTON — After two weeks in their home states, members of Congress gaveled back in session this week, picking up right where they left off.

That meant a week of debates over abortion, Iran's nuclear ambitions, budget proposals and, for Nevada's delegation, Yucca Mountain.

Here's how Nevada's six members of Congress spent their week in Washington:

Reid: GOP 2016 candidates are 'losers'

This week marked 100 days of the new Republican-controlled Congress, and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid made sure to attack his colleagues on the other side of the aisle.

Deal after deal has fallen through between Reid and Republican leaders, including a bill to curb human trafficking and the confirmation of New York prosecutor Loretta Lynch to be the nation's next attorney general.

On Thursday, Reid threatened an unusual parliamentary move that would allow him — instead of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. — to bring Lynch's nomination up for a vote in the Senate. Since a Senate committee approved her, she's been waiting five months for a vote, and Reid ratcheted up the tough talk to try to move her.

"The blame game is a world-class sport here," Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, astutely noted at the end of the week.

In between bashing Senate Republicans, Reid also did a host of national TV interviews where he bashed GOP presidential candidates. Reid's been quite unfiltered lately since announcing his impending retirement.

Heller supports the 'doc fix'

Nevada's Republican senator focused on tax and Medicare legislation he supports that advanced in Congress this week.

On Thursday, Sen. Dean Heller praised the House of Representatives for passing a bill to let taxpayers in states like Nevada, who don't pay state income tax, permanently deduct their state and local sales tax from their federal taxes instead. Heller introduced a similar bill in the Senate with Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington.

On the floor of the Senate this week, Heller helped his colleagues pass a bill to permanently end automatic federal cuts to doctors treating seniors on Medicare. The "doc fix," as it's called, passed the House of Representatives last month, and lawmakers hope it will provide more stability to seniors on Medicare.

Titus contemplating a run for Senate

Rep. Dina Titus also applauded the House's passage to make permanent state and local sales tax deductions for Nevadans. She wasn't as happy about House Republicans' move to give the Nuclear Regulatory Commission $200 million to proceed with a project to store the nation's nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain. She blasted Nevada Republican Reps. Mark Amodei and Cresent Hardy for touring the site last week.

"Any members in our delegation who are open to even entertaining the idea of this dangerous project should be ashamed," she said in a statement.

Titus also had a gut-check week about her future in Congress. The Las Vegas Democrat is considering a run for Reid's open seat, and she said Tuesday she'll make a decision "soon."

"I've been deliberating," she said. "It's a big decision to make, both politically and personally." Running for the Democratic nomination for Senate would mean leaving her safe district to challenge Reid's chosen successor, former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto.

Titus, the only Greek-American woman in Congress, made sure to squeeze in some time to celebrate Greek Independence Day, a weeks-long celebration. She attended a White House event Thursday and earlier made sure to take a photo with adorably dressed Greek children visiting the Capitol.

Amodei to Forest Service chief: 'You're the man'

"Chief Tidwell, atta boy. You're the man. Thank you very much."

That was an unusual statement released this week by Northern Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei. The ever-colloquial Amodei was congratulating U.S. Forest Service head Tom Tidwell after the agency said this week it will no longer pursue a plan that could allow it to take private land owners' groundwater.

Amodei has an increasing leadership role in the House on the committee that appropriates money to federal agencies the Forest Service.

Last week, he was named vice chair of the subcommittee in the Appropriations Committee that focuses on the legislative branch, meaning he's second-in-command on the panel that appropriates money for the Capitol Police and Library of Congress and House of Representatives itself.

Heck builds his cash pile for 2016

The Republican representing Las Vegas' southwestern suburbs also praised the sales tax deduction and the Senate passage of the doc fix, an issue he's worked on for years.

This week also marked the release of campaign finance reports for candidates, the first chance in 2015 for donors and the media to see how much money candidates raised January-March. Although Heck doesn't yet have a challenger — the doctor and brigadier general has won the swing district three times now — his fundraising indicate Heck isn't taking any chances for what would be a fourth reelection bid in a presidential year that tends to favor Democrats.

He raised $324,000 this year so far and has an impressive $920,000 in his campaign bank account.

Nevada Republican circles consider Heck a top candidate to challenge Democrats for Reid's seat, but Heck has said repeatedly publicly and privately he doesn't want the job.

A big reason: He's focused on his leadership role in the House revamping military pay and compensation. Heck said he supports creating a 401(k)-style account for new members.

Finally this week, a staffer for Heck was named the 2015 Cherry Blossom Queen at an annual festival in Washington:

Hardy says Yucca Mountain 'an impressive project'

Fresh off his tour of Yucca Mountain with Amodei and a group of House lawmakers, Hardy didn't elaborate much about the trip: "I came. I saw," he said. "It's a hole in the mountain. I think it's an impressive project. I'm just waiting to see what the science has to say on both sides. I want that conversation."

Hardy also kicked up his fundraising for what's likely to be a competitive reelection bid. Campaign finance reports show he raised $304,000 so far this year, and he has no extra cash on hand. He'll have to keep up the pace: Democrats are already lining up to challenge him in the diverse and large district, with state senator Ruben Kihuen announcing his candidacy earlier this month.

In Washington, Hardy teamed up with Heller to introduce a bill that would ease restrictions in land in the eastern part of the state, including Lincoln and White Pine counties and his hometown of Mesquite. The reset of the Nevada's delegation co-sponsored the bill.

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