More Local

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
• Former Marine to serve two years in jail for killing Albuquerque robber
• Wilson-Pearce battle for U.S. Senate exemplifies party's disparity

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

It's hard to plan the rest of your life when you've spent 36 years doing one thing and you don't know how long your deteriorating brain is going to function normally.

So, Sen. Pete Domenici is focused on what he can accomplish between now and Jan. 3, 2009, when he will leave the U.S. Senate.

That agenda includes yet another energy bill, a mental health insurance parity bill, three Indian water settlement bills, and continued funding for New Mexico's national laboratories and military bases.

It has been nearly a month since Domenici, 75, announced he would not seek re-election in 2008 and disclosed that he had been given a diagnosis of frontotemporal lobar degeneration, a progressive, incurable deterioration of the brain that can impair behavior and language.

But it has not caused Domenici to alter his work schedule or access. For instance, the Albuquerque Republican still fields calls from New Mexico radio reporters once a week.

"No, I won't cut back on my schedule because of this diagnosis," Domenici said in an interview with The Tribune.

He said his doctor has not told him he needs to cut back, based on the damage that has occurred since he first learned of the problem two years ago. He said it was the uncertainty of the progression over the next five years that caused him to decide to not seek another six-year term.

"It's very hard to figure out what I'm going to do next (after the Senate)," Domenici said. "I know I can do right now what is on my plate."

Much of that plate right now is filled with trying to resolve several contentious issues caught in the chasm of differences between Republicans and Democrats and the House and the Senate.

One is an energy bill that passed the Senate with an increase in fuel-efficiency standards for cars, which Domenici supports, and included a mandate for utilities to get 15 percent of their power from renewable resources, which he opposes.

Another is a measure to require insurance companies to offer the same co-payments and limitations for mental health benefits as physical ailments. A bipartisan agreement sent the bill sailing through the Senate, but the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bill that goes further than the industry and the Senate will support, said Domenici.

One of Domenici's daughters, Clare, suffered from mental illness, which spurred the senator to fund the Mind Institute in Albuquerque to research the causes of mental illness. Now he'd like to ask experts about funding a research effort on his own disease.

Then there's New Mexico.

The House and Senate are poles apart over funding Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories, but for now the heavy cuts in the House energy and water appropriations bill are being staved off because the labs are operating under a stopgap funding bill, like most federal agencies.

Los Alamos would be particularly hit hard with layoffs if the House eventually gets its way.

"We've got to come to our senses," Domenici said. "We've got the greatest talent of scientists at one institution, Los Alamos, greater than Sandia, greater than Lawrence Livermore, and we're asking them to operate without a budget."

Domenici also will try to protect the state's military bases and other federal institutions in the state in what will be his last appropriations bills next year.

Domenici will be working with Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a Silver City Democrat, to win federal funding to build a pipeline to bring the San Juan Basin water to the Navajo Nation and Gallup.

But for the long term, Domenici said he regrets he won't be around to push what he thinks could be a solution to some of New Mexico's water woes - desalinating the brackish water of the Tularosa Basin.

He said another project he will miss working on is to develop the Albuquerque Biological Park in the Rio Grande bosque.

Domenici has been talking to the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University about storing his official papers,but he said there are no details to release yet. He has also made no decision about how to spend his more than $1 million in campaign funds.

Domenici's decision to retire relieves him of the burden of fund-raising and campaigning.

"Nothing is more fun than campaigning," said Domenici, who admits he wasn't feeling as well as he wanted on the trail this year, which he attributes to the mixture of medications he was taking for the neurologically caused pains in his right arm and left leg.

He does plan to campaign for Republican candidates in New Mexico next fall.

"I hope I feel like I do right now. I will do everything I can to be helpful," Domenici said.

As for the looming Republican primary battle to replace him, between Rep. Heather Wilson of Albuquerque, a one-time protégé, and Rep. Steve Pearce of Hobbs, Domenici said, "I'm not endorsing anyone now."