Nuke bill's demise tops lawmakers' scorecard

WASHINGTON -- Nevada's delegation heads home toting a year's worth of frustrations, a few trophies and a pocketful of change as Congress wrapped up for the year.

The state's four members of Congress were caught up in a session scarred by bitter and fruitless politicking by President Clinton and the body that handed him a House impeachment and Senate acquittal a year ago. Congress resumes Jan. 24.

"The American people were crying out for reform and meaningful legislation in Congress so that the quality of their lives could improve and we didn't address that," said freshman lawmaker Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. "There was a lot of needless partisan wrangling."

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., added, "I've been here since 1989, and this has been the least productive session that I can remember." Among the notable failures: Congress made no progress on the so-called Patients Bill of Rights. Congress also failed to craft Medicare and Social Security reform and campaign finance reform.

"In the end, this session was not about what accomplishments were made, but about missed opportunities," Bryan said.

On the upside, Nevada senators kept nuclear waste out of Nevada one more year, balanced the budget and wrote laws that redefine banking and financial transactions for the modern era, Bryan said.

Nevada fared reasonably well during the lackluster session, the delegates said.

As in any year, millions of federal dollars will be dumped into state coffers in 2000 now that Clinton and Congress have agreed on a budget. Nevada got bundles of money for a variety of projects: flood control, university research and military construction at Nellis Air Force Base.

"We did a little better this year," than in recent years, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said.

But the biggest victory for Bryan and Reid came in June with the death of a bill that would have shipped the nation's nuclear waste to a temporary storage area at the Nevada Test Site.

The Nevada senators argued that the waste would pile up, effectively making Nevada a permanent dump. President Clinton threatened veto. A Senate committee killed the bill.

This fall brought Round Two. This time Reid and Bryan faced a bill that would make Nevada a permanent site for nuclear waste storage as early as 2007. The new bill outlines a plan to ship up to 77,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Yucca is the only site scientists are studying as a permanent dump. Nuclear waste is now piling up in storage pools and containers at more than 100 nuclear power plants and defense sites across the nation.

Reid and Bryan finally delayed the second bill by threatening endless debate. But the issue is certain to resurface early next session.

"The nuclear power industry better realize that Nevada's senators will never yield to their outrageous and dangerous demands," Bryan said in a speech on the Senate floor in September.

The Nevada delegation points to other victories this year.

Reid and Bryan slipped language into a $39 billion commerce, justice and state departments bill that creates two new federal judge positions for Nevada.

Nevada's six federal judges, including two senior judges who work reduced caseloads, are among the most overworked in the nation. Fast-growing Nevada is fifth in the nation in total cases pending.

Berkley said she was proudest of some of the money she helped funnel to Nevada; $1.75 million for projects in Henderson, $2.79 million for electronic signs that warn motorists of traffic problems and $27 million for flood control.

Berkley said Congress sometimes frustrated her, moving too slowly on safer schools legislation, veterans and seniors issues and on the Patients Bill of Rights.

The vast divide between Democrats and Republicans came as the biggest surprise during her first year in Congress, Berkley said. Clinton's impeachment proceedings early this year slowed the session down from the start.

"The first two months we spent twiddling our thumbs waiting for that to be resolved. It was counterproductive to the workings of Congress and put on hold the important issues on the minds of the American people."

As the year progressed Congress was flush with partisan bickering that invaded debates on a host of issues.

Clinton and Republicans clashed over a controversial $792 billion tax cut, which Clinton vetoed in September.

Republicans and Democrats in recent weeks haggled over education, paying U.S. dues to the United Nations, gun control and partial-birth abortion. They spent the waning days of the session arguing over which party did a better job preserving Social Security.

Debate over police officers ended when the Republican-controlled Congress finally agreed to Clinton's request to continue funding his COPS program, which he claims put 100,000 police officers on the street, including 34 Metro Police officers, during the last five years.

Republican critics say the program has not hired that many cops -- maybe 60,000 -- and that the program forces police departments to pay for the new officers after a few years.

Congress and Clinton also collided this year over education spending, eventually agreeing to spend $1.3 billion for new teachers and teacher training. Clinton's request for $1.4 billion included roughly $7 million for 178 new teachers for Nevada.

The Patients Bill of Rights issue sparked some of the most passionate debates this year.

The House last month passed a bill that would allow patients to sue their health maintenance organizations over disputes and guarantee patients access to specialists when needed. The Senate had passed a narrower version of the bill.

But no compromise was reached between the two houses, and no new HMO laws emerged.

In other action on Nevada-related bills this session:

"It's an unprecedented attack on one state -- Nevada," Berkley said. "If they can't police themselves, they attack betting."

Reid vowed to make the legislation a high priority next year.

The land has been the town's cemetery for several generations. It also is part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Residents want local control of it. A clash has developed because federal law allows the agency to sell the land but not give it away.

Reid said he expects the Jarbidge bill to pass the Senate early next session.

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