Reid, Bryan and Gibbons praise Clinton's nuclear waste bill veto

Senators Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, both D-Nev., and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., joined in praising President Clinton on Tuesday for vetoing legislation designed to accelerate plans to dump nuclear waste in Nevada.

Because the bill didn't pass either house of Congress with enough votes to override the veto, that pretty much kills the legislation for this year.

"Clearly this legislation was the nuclear power industry's latest attempt at trying to change the rules in the middle of the game to weaken existing health and safety standards for hundreds of thousands of Nevadans," said Bryan.

"By refusing to sign this Republican-backed bill, the president and vice president have sided with Nevada's families and with the millions of Americans who would be in danger from nuclear waste being shopped across our nation," said Reid.

Gibbons joined the senators in praising the veto.

"The hard work of Nevada's united congressional delegation and the citizens of Nevada combined with today's presidential veto has brought this nuclear waste juggernaut to a screeching halt for now," said Gibbons. "Sound science and safety must prevail over politics and the deep pockets of the nuclear waste lobby."

All three credited Clinton for standing up to intense pressure from the nuclear power industry, which wants the bill.

Not only would the bill have put Yucca Mountain on the fast track to start accepting high level nuclear waste, it would have weakened the scientific standards for evaluating whether storage at the site 75 miles north of Las Vegas is safe.