Posted on 11/09/2005 5:27:22 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Short of votes and running out of time, House GOP leaders may drop a hotly contested plan to open an Alaskan wilderness area to oil drilling as they try to secure passage of a sweeping budget bill Thursday.
Such a move would be a big setback for President Bush and other advocates of permitting oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which has repeatedly passed the House with bipartisan support when considered as part of broader energy legislation. It's always been dropped in the face of promised filibusters by Senate Democrats.
Now that the ANWR drilling proposal is part of a budget bill immune to Senate filibusters, it is the House that's having difficulty advancing the drilling plan. That's because Democrats oppose the overall budget bill, giving House GOP opponents of drilling in the Arctic great leverage to try and force it out of the bill.
Twenty-five Republicans, led by Rep. Charles Bass (news, bio, voting record) of New Hampshire, have signed a letter asking GOP leaders to strike the Alaskan drilling provision from the broader $54 billion budget cut bill.
"Rather then reversing decades of protection for this publicly held land, focusing greater attention on renewable energy sources, alternate fuels, and more efficient systems and appliances would yield more net energy savings than could come from ANWR and would have a higher benefit on the nation's long-term economic leadership and security," said the letter.
Republican leaders have yet to announce any decisions about changes to the $54 billion budget bill, but it's commonly assumed that the ANWR drilling provision will have to be dropped for GOP leaders to have any chance of passing the bill.
"(GOP leaders) understand that this isn't going anywhere with ANWR in it," Bass said.
"They're going to take ANWR out," added Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Ill.
Given the narrow margin of GOP control of the House, it only takes 14 Republican defections to scuttle a bill, assuming every Democrat opposes it.
Still, removing the Arctic oil drilling provision would incite a backlash from lawmakers who strongly favor it, which is a big majority of Republicans. House and Senate GOP leaders are likely to push hard for the final House-Senate version of the bill to include it.
Marnie Funk, a spokeswoman for Sen. Pete Domenici (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., said that Domenici considers the ANWR provision, which the Senate approved, "one of the most critical components" in the budget package. "He is committed to coming back to the Senate from the conference with ANWR intact," she said.
The oil drilling provision is but one of several parts of the $54 billion budget cut bill under review as House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., negotiates with various Republican factions in an effort to pass the bill Thursday.
• A plan to allow states to waive a 24-year ban on drilling along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and open a contested tract off the Florida Gulf coast to oil drilling. Several Florida Republicans strongly oppose the plan.
• Provisions tightening eligibility for food stamps, especially for legal immigrants. Cuban-American lawmakers from the Miami area are optimistic they will win concessions.
Rep. Don Young (news, bio, voting record), an Alaska Republican strongly supporting opening the refuge to drilling, said he is not optimistic that the ANWR drilling plan approved by the Resources Committee will be kept in the final bill. He said he was "hoping for a cold, cold winter."
The overall bill is a top Republican priority. The Senate passed a milder version of the bill last week that would curb the automatic growth of federal spending by $35 billion through the end of the decade. The House plan cuts more deeply across a broader range of social programs.
Republicans say the debate is an important moment for their party as it tries to burnish its record on the budget deficit and federal spending.
At a closed-door GOP meeting Wednesday, Republican leaders made a plea to lawmakers' sense of party loyalty.
Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., summarized the pitch made by Republican leaders: "It's critical. It's a defining vote. And it'll keep us in the majority."
Now that the ANWR drilling proposal is part of a budget bill immune to Senate filibusters, it is the House that's having difficulty advancing the drilling plan. That's because Democrats oppose the overall budget bill, giving House GOP opponents of drilling in the Arctic great leverage to try and force it out of the bill.
Twenty-five Republicans, led by Rep. Charles Bass (news, bio, voting record) of New Hampshire, have signed a letter asking GOP leaders to strike the Alaskan drilling provision from the broader $54 billion budget cut bill.
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Bass and the (M)ilk, you are class A-1 asses, imo.
I hope so, since when should a rep from a tiny state and some ill-informed reps have so much sway. It's disgusting to watch our nation held hostage by idiots like this.
Bass of NH, the (snicker) conservative bastion of the NE. New England strikes again! (Guess 'ol Charlie forgets how much his constituents rely on oil this time of year. Let them eat cake!)
Is there a list of the 25 sobs?
So all these reps from other states opposes drilling in AK. Maybe the AK reps need to insist that NYC be allowed to go back to its pristine natural state.
Surely there are a few Democrats who aren't as stupid as these RINOs and will vote for the bill.
Softy GOP Senators are maneuvering for a run for the Presidency, and trying to convert "moderate Dems" to their
causes. Little do they no, there are very few "moderate Dems" after years of anti Bush propaganda from the media. The softy GOP Senators will be playing to 2 largely empty halls, One empty GOP Hall ( we will abandon them), and one empty Moderate Dem Hall( they are non - existant).
Oops Peter King supports oil production...
So Bass and his comrades think that Americans don't mind paying three bucks a gallon for gas? That's what they are saying here.
Anyone of them who doesn't support it should be forced to peddle a bicycle home and back to DC or whenever they travel anywhere.
This is such an idiotic energy policy situation we find ourselves in.
They have mush for brains, imo. How else can you explain it.
25 Republicans? My goodness, no wonder President Bush has trouble doing battle with the Dims when he has flaky Republicans like that in his foxhole. What is the problem with drilling in ANWAR and finding alternate sources of energy? These silly SOBs need to get off their collective asses and take action instead of thinking of imposing a windfall profit tax on oil companies.
Gilchrist keeping Campbell under 50 percent hurt us here too. We could really use another vote.
I'd rather Anwr be passed and leave reduce the budget cuts.
The senate is never going to pass budget cuts over 35 billion. The house passed budget cuts at 55 billion.
We really miss Tom Delay here. Roy Blunt isn't in the same league as Delay in hammering out votes. Blunt sucks.
Kick the moderates out already. We can't get anything done with the rino's so what is the point of being in the majority and not being able to do anything and look weak. Kick them out and go into the minority.
Who really cares about the 06 elections. Nothing can get done with needing 60 votes in the senate to pass legislation and with rino's in the house on budget matters.
The stupid rino's are playing to the enviornmental crowd that won't vote for them anyway. Castle has his seat locked up and so do the new hampshire reps.
Guess he figures his constituents can simply freeze to death in the dark.
I have found a few names, still looking for a copy of the letter and the signees.
Here are some of them, as best I have gathered from recent articles
Rep. Nancy Johnson R-Conn
Science Committee Chairman Sherwood L. Boehlert (R-N.Y.)Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-N.H.)
Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J.
What really ticks me off is that the rino's have made this party look weak and in turn keep gop voters at home.
Gop voters stay home even when it comes to supporting a real conservative like Kilgore.
Kilgore was anti illegals and a strong conservative but the rino's have so depressed gop voters that they didn't show up even to support a strong conservative.
Part of the blame is on the voters too. So many gop voters stayed home last november in that special louisiana election because the candidate was accused of getting the seat because of his father. Who cares? Was that worth losing the whole budget. Was electing Gilchrest worth losing the whole budget?
It sounds like every single Democrat is voting against it. That is the root cause of failure. Hastert needs 10-15 Democrats who love this country.
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