Action stalled on nuclear waste bill

      WASHINGTON -- Nevada's senators used an obscure parliamentary rule Wednesday to stall a bill calling for interim storage of nuclear waste at the Nevada Test Site.
      The Senate Energy Committee was expected to pass the nuclear waste bill Wednesday morning. But the panel was forced to adjourn shortly before noon when Sens. Richard Bryan and Harry Reid, D-Nev., cited a rule that forbids committees from meeting two hours after the Senate convenes.
      Bryan and Reid are not members of the panel, but any senator can file an objection under the two-hour rule.
      An annoyed Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, the panel chairman, vowed the committee vote would occur this morning "come hell or high water."
      "This is not a great victory. We just wanted to send a message," Bryan said. "We will hold them to the standard of complying with Senate rules."
      Murkowski charged Democrats had promised him there would not be an objection, but Bryan and Reid said there was never such an agreement. The Nevadans said Murkowski must have known there would be an objection because he said at the beginning of Wednesday's hearing that he wanted a vote within two hours.
      "This is an indication of how wasteful his activities are," Reid said. "He is wasting the money of American taxpayers and delaying the vote was our way of showing that."
      Murkowski wanted the committee to pass the bill Wednesday to enhance its chances of moving to the Senate floor next week. But he acknowledged it was unlikely the Senate would have a final vote on the bill before breaking for a two-week recess on March 21.
      "I don't expect it to be done or moved off the floor next week, but we have an obligation to begin the process," he said. "In order to get this resolved, we must get it out of committee."
      But Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said he wanted enough time to discuss five amendments he planned to offer.
      Bingaman complained that the bill sets unachievable deadlines, runs roughshod over environmental safeguards and hurts efforts to develop a permanent repository. He had finished discussing only one of his amendments when the panel was forced to adjourn.
      The senators then went to the floor to vote on the nomination of Federico Pena to become energy secretary.
      Pena was confirmed by a 99-1 vote. Only Sen. Rod Grams, R-Minn., who has said Pena has not provided satisfactory answers on interim storage of nuclear waste, voted against the nomination.