S. 1936 (Mobile Chernobyl Act), Update #3

S. 1936
(Mobile Chernobyl Act),
Update #3

July 17, 1996, 3 PM

On Wednesday, July 17, the Senate temporarily shelved S. 1936 and moved on to other business. Now that Senators Reid and Bryan have proven they can get 34 votes (including Sen. Dan Coats, R-IN), they have agreed to drop their filibuster efforts for the time being and will let the Senate debate other bills. For an analysis of the vote and to see how your Senator voted, look at update #2.

Our best estimate now is that the key "cloture" vote (the vote to cut off the Reid/Bryan filibuster on S. 1936) will take place next Wednesday or Thursday (July 24 or 25). We will again need at least 34 votes on this effort to remain credible. INDEED, IT IS POSSIBLE WE CAN GET THE FULL 40 VOTES NEEDED TO WIN THE CLOTURE VOTE! This would almost certainly end any further consideration of S. 1936 this year. All we need to do is hold on to those who voted with Reid/Bryan the first time, and switch six more votes.

Given that President Clinton has reaffirmed in writing his intention to veto this bill, switching six votes is certainly possible, if Senators perceive that continuing with the bill is a waste of time. We need to keep building momentum, and keep those calls, faxes, e-mails and letters coming in.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

SHORT-TERM: If you haven't called your Senators yet, please do so. If your Senator voted with Reid/Bryan yesterday, please thank him/her and encourage him/her to continue voting against S. 1936 and against any cloture vote. If your Senator voted for cloture yesterday, point out that Reid/Bryan got enough votes to sustain a veto, and that Clinton has promised a veto. Any further consideration of this bill is a waste of the Senate's time, and takes away from the Senate's duty to pass appropriations bills and consider bills that might benefit the American people. To check your Senator's voting record, see update #2.

Continue reaching out to friends, contacting phone trees, other groups that might be interested, local officials, etc. A lot of calls are reaching the Senate--we must keep it up!

Note: please do not be afraid of calling your Senator more than once. While it's a good idea not to be a pest, as circumstances change, Senators need to hear your views. For example, now that the first vote has taken place, it is perfectly appropriate to call Senators so far in support of S. 1936 and point out that circumstances have changed, and not only should they not support the bill, but neither should they further waste the Senate's time by encouraging consideration of a bill that will be vetoed, and the veto sustained.

If your Senator(s) voted with Reid/Bryan, write a letter to the editor of a local paper praising that vote. You might also consider praising Clinton for the July 15 reaffirmation of his veto promise. He, Reid/Bryan, and all the Senators who voted against cloture need to be commended for their efforts to protect Americans from unsound radioactive waste dumping practices and for working to block unnecessary and dangerous radioactive waste transportation through hundreds of cities, towns, and America's agricultural heartland.

LONG-TERM: Go to your city and county councils and get resolutions passed against S. 1936. There is still time to gain more political support for our position, especially if the Senate goes ahead and votes for the bill, and Clinton vetoes it. That process could take weeks. Resolutions passed by other cities and counties (ranging in size from Los Angeles, Denver, & St. Louis to Mt. Rainier, MD, and Decatur, GA) are available from NIRS or from our website (www.nirs.org). Gathering more political support is essential in this election year.

In addition, there is still time to get new organizations to sign on to letters to the Senate and White House against S. 1936. Unless we win the cloture vote next Thursday, this could go on into September. Letters to the White House are important so that Clinton realizes his position is supported.

Think about organizations which you might belong to or that you may have connections to. Has the local chapter of Audubon sent a letter yet? How about the local chapter of American Association of Retired People? Local Young Democrats Group? or Americans for Democratic Action? How about the local Chamber of Commerce (esp. in areas where resolutions have already passed?). Church congregations can often be helpful.

We realize it's summer, and hot, and vacation time and everything else. But this is crunch time--this period has been 2 years in the making; we either win or lose now. The nuclear industry is running large ads in the Washington Post almost every day. And you can bet they're getting in touch with their own "grassroots" constituency: utility executive and nuclear plant workers. The nuclear industry is not going to let up, and we can't either. BUT WE CAN WIN, and with your help and work right now, WE WILL WIN!

The above information was distributed by NIRS. For more information contact Grant Smith or Jerry Polk at the Citizens Action Coalition or you may contact NIRS at: Nuclear Information and Resource Service1424 16th Street NW, #404, Washington DC 20036202-328-0002; fax: 202-462-2183;e-mail: nirsnet@igc.apc.orgWeb: www.nirs.org

[Return to CAC home page ] [Read more on S. 1936]

NIRS CALLS ON LOTT TO WITHDRAW NUCLEAR WASTE BILL; WARNS ANY FURTHER "GRIDLOCK" WILL BE DUE TO DUMP PROPONENTS

The Nuclear Information and Resource Service today called on Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott to withdraw further consideration of S. 1936, a bill that would put an "interim" storage dump for high-level radioactive waste in Nevada.

Citing a July 15, 1996 letter in which the Administration reaffirmed President Clinton's intent to veto S. 1936, and a July 16 procedural Senate floor vote in which opponents of the measure received the necessary 34 votes to sustain a veto, NIRS said it is time for Lott "to withdraw this bill for the rest of the session."

Senators Reid and Bryan of Nevada have been leading a filibuster against S. 1936. The Senate voted July 16 65-34 in favor of invoking "cloture" on a motion to proceed with S. 1936. Another "cloture" vote to end a filibuster is expected next week. NIRS pointed out that several Senators who voted for cloture, which merely allows consideration of the bill to proceed, are likely to support a Presidential veto. "The margin voting to sustain a veto may be quite a bit larger than yesterday's vote indicates," Michael Mariotte, NIRS' Executive Director, wrote in a July 17, 1996 letter to Lott.

The letter continued, "Meanwhile, continuing with this unnecessary and dangerous legislation will continue to delay Senate consideration of other important policy matters and appropriations bills. The gridlock you criticized last week likely will continue. Now, however, it is clear that it is the supporters of S. 1936 who are causing the gridlock, by continuing to pursue a bill which surely cannot be enacted."

In releasing the letter, Mariotte said, "Senator Lott and the nuclear power industry will be at fault for any further Senate gridlock, for bringing up a bill which President Clinton has said, in writing, that he will veto. This is not a partisan issue, it's a common sense issue. Common sense says you don't move high-level radioactive waste across dangerous railways and highways unless you have to. Common sense says you certainly don't move it unless you know where it's going to end up permanently, and unless the utilities which generated it are liable for any accidents. This bill defies common sense in order to give nuclear utilities an election-year financial break."

Added Mary Olson of NIRS' Radioactive Waste Project, "We commend Senators Reid and Bryan, and President Clinton, for their efforts to ensure that this bill is never enacted. They are protecting the American people from dangerous nuclear waste transport, pure and simple. 50 million Americans live within two miles of transport routes, in 43 states, on which lethal high-level radioactive waste would be shipped under S. 1936. Without the Reid/Bryan filibuster and the Presidential veto promise, Americans would soon see huge radioactive waste transport casks--each carrying as much as 200 Hiroshima bombs worth of long-lived radiation--traveling through their neighborhoods. This is absolutely unacceptable and unconscionable, especially when the waste would be moved to an uncertain future: to an "interim" dump on a geological fault line."

The text of NIRS' July 17 letter to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and the Administration's July 15 veto promise are available on request, and from NIRS' website: www.nirs.org

Go to Nuclear Issues Index