S. 1936, Update Number 2

July 16, 1996, 3 pm

This morning, in its first vote related to S. 1936, the Senate voted 65-34 in favor of "cloture" on the motion to proceed on S. 1936. This means that the Senate voted to end the filibuster of Nevada Senators Reid and Bryan on the issue of whether S. 1936 can come to the floor. Tomorrow, Wednesday, at 1 pm, there will be a vote on the issue of whether the bill can come to the floor. Then, it is our understanding that Reid and Bryan still intend to filibuster the bill itself, which will result in at least one more cloture vote; it appears that vote probably cannot occur before Friday. If cloture is approved at that time, then the bill itself can be voted on, but almost certainly not before next week.

In addition, there is a possibility Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott will try to bring up other legislation in the meantime. Two possibilities are the defense appropriations bill and welfare reform. Bryan and Reid still have a filibuster going against defense appropriations, and conceivably could filibuster welfare reform as well.

If all this sounds confusing--well, it is. That's the nature of the Senate rules. The most important vote will be the cloture vote on the filibuster of the bill itself--that's the vote that may take place Friday--we will keep you posted.

THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THIS FIRST VOTE GARNERED 34 VOTES--THAT IS THE EXACT NUMBER NEEDED TO SUSTAIN A PRESIDENTIAL VETO!

Our numbers are likely to only go up from here, making it more likely that Lott will eventually have to withdraw the bill. And momentum seems to be swinging our way. Yesterday, the White House sent a letter to the Senate restating its intention to veto S. 1936. This morning, the Washington Post published a strong lead editorial against S. 1936 (text enclosed).

HERE IS WHAT TO DO NOW: Enclosed is the list of 34 Senators who voted with Bryan and Reid (against cloture). If your senator(s) are on this list, please call, fax or e-mail them and thank them for their vote and urge them to continuing supporting the filibuster. If your senator(s) are not on the list, please call, fax or e-mail them, point out that S. 1936 now has enough opposition to sustain a promised presidential veto, and that it is a pointless waste of time to proceed any further with this bill. Doing so will only prevent the Senate from addressing other needed legislation.

CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD: 202-224-3121

If you have not yet called your Senators about this issue, it's time to do so. If you have not yet asked your parents, your kids, your grandparents, your next-door neighbor, your friend down the street, to call the Senate--please do so today.

The message is simple: Support the Bryan/Reid filibuster. Oppose S. 1936.

To Senator Lott's office: Withdraw S. 1936, it will be vetoed and the veto will be sustained. Work on needed legislation.

Here is the list of Senators who voted in favor of Bryan/Reid (against cloture)

Ford, Ken. Bryan, Nev. Reid, Nev. Conrad, N. Dak. Daschle, S. Dak. Lieberman, Conn. Dodd, Conn. Moynihan, N.Y., Rockefeller, W.Va. Byrd, W.Va., Biden, Delaware Pell, R.I. Campbell, Colo. Kennedy, Mass. Kerry, Mass. Feingold, Wisc. Wyden, Ore., Pryor, Ark. Bumpers, Ark. Akaka, Hawaii Inouye, Hawaii Mikulski, Md. Sarbanes, Md. Bingaman, N.M. Harkin, Iowa, Exon, Neb., Kerrey, Neb. Baucus, Mont. Feinstein, Calif. Boxer, Calif. Glenn, Ohio Dorgan, N. Dak. Graham, Fla. Coats, Indiana.

All but Campbell and Coats are Democrats.

E-mail addresses of Senators are available on NIRS' web site. For technical reasons, you cannot currently mail to Senators from our web site, but you can get the address.

Another thing that needs to be done this week is to bring up the topic of Senate gridlock on radio and tv talk shows, and point out that it is not Bryan/Reid who are causing the Senate's inability to pass legislation, it is Majority Leader Lott. Lott is the one insisting on continuing with this bill, despite the fact that it will be vetoed and the veto likely will be sustained. By not withdrawing this bill, Lott is ensuring that filibusters will continue and legislation will continue to be held up. All for a bill which almost certainly cannot be enacted.

Here are some phone numbers of popular national talk shows. But listen to and call talk shows in your area too. Note: times of talk shows often vary from location to location, so check your local station.

C-Span: Eastern and Central time zone states: 202-624-1111 Mountain and Pacific time zone states: 202-624-1115

NPR: Diane Rehm, and Derek McGinty, 1-800-885-8850

Also, don't forget Talk of the Nation on NPR, daily from 2-4 pm

Other shows you might want to consider are Larry King Live; Rush Limbaugh, Ollie North, et al (be sure to stand up if they try to bully you); CNN Talkback Live; and other national radio and cable tv and local shows.

Here is the text of the Washington Post editorial of July 16, 1996:

The Washington Post

AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER TUESDAY, JULY 16, 1996

Waste Makes Haste

NUCLEAR POWER has not turned out to be the blessing the advance men said it would. Among much else, they presented it as clean_no more burning of gritty coal_but in the matter of cleanliness, it has a ghastly problem of its own. The nuclear issue is waste disposal_what to do with the enormously toxic spent fuel rods for which there currently is no long-term home.

The idea was that the utilities would store the spent fuel in the short run, while the government created a permanent storage facility. To put it charitably, the government has been slow to fulfill its part of the bargain. Technology has been one reason; it's hard to determine how best to deal, over what will likely be many generations, with a product as nasty as this. Politics also have been a problem; for obvious reasons, no one wants the stuff.

In the 1980s Congress fastened on Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a likely permanent repository. Nevadans resisted the idea, but Texas and Washington, the other candidates, were more powerfully represented in the House and able to duck. The necessary work to settle definitely on Yucca Mountain has gone slowly, however. The judgments are hard, and the Energy Department over the years bas been less than a model of efficiency. So now the industry is trying to force the issue. Anxious to rid itself of the accumulating waste and the liability that it represents, and fearful that the federal studies could bog down, the nuclear lobby is pushing a bill to designate an "interim" storage site in Nevada that would not have to meet all the standards of a permanent facility. Nevadans see the proposal as a stalking horse to create what would amount to a permanent facility by another name. The state's two senators have been holding up other legislation to keep the storage measure from coming to a vote. A cloture vote will be held today to cut off their filibuster; they expect to lose. But the president also has threatened a veto, and that the Nevadans think they could sustain.

We hope they do, if necessary. The interim bill is the wrong way to solve what is not yet a fully urgent problem. It may well be that there is no alternative to permanent storage_some people think a timely way may yet be found to detoxify the waste instead. It also may be that Yucca Mountain is the best available site. But this is too important a decision to be jammed through the latter part of a Congress on the strength of the industry's fabricated claim that it faces an emergency. On this one, members should imagine the worst--that bunching and storing the waste will produce the eventual environmental disaster that some of the critics predict. Then ask themselves, which among them want to sign their names to that?

As always, thanks for your help, keep it up! We CAN WIN this one!

Michael Mariotte

NIRS