The Nuclear Waste Transportation act of 1996 -- AKA Mobile Chernobyl -- is now moving through the Senate and could be voted on any day! You calls are needed NOW.S. 1936, Update Number 2 : July 16, 1996, 3 PMThis 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! THE OTHER GOOD NEWS IS THAT INDIANA'S OWN SENATOR DAN COATS VOTED AGAINST CLOTURE -- AND FOR HOOSIER TAXPAYERS AND THE ENVIRONMENT! 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. HERE IS WHAT TO DO NOW: Enclosed is the list of 34 Senators who voted with Bryan and Reid (against cloture). Please call Senator Coats and thank him for his vote and urge him to continuing supporting the filibuster. Please also call Senator Richard Lugar, 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 Read more about S. 1936 in CAC's newsletter, CITIZENS POWER on the net. Go to Updates Here is the list of Senators who voted in favor of Bryan/Reid (against cloture)
All but Campbell and Coats are Democrats. Please make your call today!This information came courtesy of:
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