Lott threatens second nuke bill vote

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., has signaled he plans to force another vote on the nuclear waste bill that President Clinton vetoed April 25.

"It could happen at any time," Lott spokesman John Czwartacki said. "It's in a position to happen at any time."

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Lott told him that he could soon bring the nuclear waste bill up for another vote. Reid and Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., called Lott's bluff, saying they would rally Democrats and sustain Clinton's veto again, Reid said.

"We'll get 45 votes," said Reid, Senate minority whip. "All the Democrats would vote with me in that case."

At issue is a bill that would ship nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Scientists are studying whether it is safe to bury 77,000 tons of nuclear waste at the Yucca repository, which is not scheduled to be complete until 2010. The bill would have launched shipments early, by 2007.

Clinton vetoed the bill for several reasons, mainly because he said it curbed the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to set safety standards at the mountain. The Senate on May 2 voted 64-35, narrowly sustaining the veto.

Lott, who controls much of the action on the Senate floor, then used a procedural rule to reserve the right to call a second vote.

When pressed on whether Lott was more likely than not to call another vote this session, Czwartacki said, "Look, I think it will happen. I don't want to handicap it or telegraph it. But it's in a position to happen."

Lott and Daschle have been involved in testy exchanges this week on a number of issues and debate procedures unrelated to nuclear waste legislation. The two have bickered mostly over amendments to a military construction bill the Senate is debating. Daschle charged Lott with acting like a dictator; Lott said he wouldn't be intimidated.

Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said Lott's nuclear waste bill threat was probably saber rattling.

"This is part of the tit-for-tat that is going on," Bryan said. "Lott is just saying, 'Look, if you want to play the game that way, we'll bring nuke waste up.' This is kind of a challenge.

"I don't sense there is anything imminent at all. That's not to say we should not expect it to come up at all."

Reid said Lott wasn't likely to bring up the vote because he would lose.

"He was trying to get our attention, and he didn't get it," Reid said.

The tiff between Lott and Daschle also could affect the confirmation of judicial nominations pending on the Senate floor, including Henderson Justice of the Peace Kent Dawson and U.S. Magistrate Roger Hunt, both nominated for U.S. District Court in Nevada.

The judicial nominees could become pawns in the political struggle on the floor, observers say.

"It certainly doesn't help," Reid said of the sparring between party leaders. "We'll have to wait and see."

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