Jeb Bush on Hand as Clinton Signs Everglades Bill

While the nation’s focus was on one Gov. Bush and whether he would move into the White House, another Gov. Bush slipped into the Oval Office Monday to witness the signing--by President Clinton--of legislation intended to restore the Everglades.

Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, the brother of Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, and about 20 other people stood behind Clinton in the Oval Office as the president used a series of pens to sign the measure. The restoration plan is expected to take 35 years to complete at a cost of $7.8 billion.

The Florida governor had played an important role in the bipartisan coalition that supported the plan, a favorite of both Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, and was invited to the ceremony.

But, a senior White House official said “we were a little bit surprised” that he decided to attend.

As is occasionally the custom at the White House, the ceremony was conducted in private. No reporters or press photographers were permitted to attend.

A White House spokesman said that decision was made because the president was operating on a tight schedule and an earlier event had been open to news coverage.

“It was viewed as a fairly ordinary bill-signing,” said the official, who spoke only on the condition that he not be identified by name.

The spokesman said there was no reference during the ceremony to the presidential election and Florida politics, nor to the role of the state’s governor.

And, although reporters asked Bush about the election after the ceremony, the Florida governor labored mightily, and successfully, to focus his remarks outside the White House on the Everglades.

But he did say: “In an era or a time where people are focused on politics, and there’s a little acrimony--I don’t know whether y’all have noticed this is a good example of how, in spite of all that, bipartisanship is still alive.

“We’re here to talk about something that is going to be long-lasting, way past counting votes. This is the restoration of a treasure for our country.”