Posted on 05/06/2002 9:34:08 AM PDT by cogitator
Arctic drilling may get second chance in Congress
WASHINGTON - A seeming parliamentary error by Democrats may result in enough votes to produce a final energy bill that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil drilling, Senate Republicans said.
A Republican proposal for drilling in the pristine refuge, which stretches over 19 million acres (7.7 million hectares) in northern Alaska, was thought to be dead after the Democratic-controlled Senate approved a broad energy bill last month that would keep ANWR closed.
Energy legislation cleared by the Republican-led House last year would allow drilling in ANWR. President George W. Bush also has endorsed giving oil companies access to the refuge.
It was widely thought that congressional negotiations to work out a compromise bill were certain to kill the ANWR provision because of intense opposition from Senate Democrats.
However, the fate of ANWR may again be up in the air because of the 17 Senate negotiators chosen for the conference committee, Republican aides said.
BREAUX TIPS BALANCE TOWARD ANWR
The selection of negotiators "appears" to be an error by the Democratic leadership, a Republican aide said.
That's because of the 17 senators named as negotiators on the compromise bill, nine voted in favor of drilling in ANWR when the Senate last month refused, 54 to 46, to give access to oil companies.
As a result, ANWR drilling supporters would have a one-vote majority among the Senate's bill negotiators, the Republican aide said.
The Senate picked eight Democrats, eight Republicans and independent James Jeffords of Vermont to serve on the Senate-House panel. Jeffords and every Democratic negotiator - except for Louisiana Sen. John Breaux - voted against drilling in ANWR.
He could not explain why the Democratic leadership would seemingly stack the conferees in favor of ANWR drilling, based on their past votes. "You need to ask leadership why they did it," the spokesman said.
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle was not available to comment.
A MAMMOTH BILL
The wide-ranging bill has mushroomed to more than 1,000 pages, covering everything from incentives for clean coal technology to boosting the amount of ethanol used to make cleaner-burning gasoline.
House-Senate negotiators are expected to begin work on a compromise bill soon.
The following Senate Democrats were named to the negotiating panel:
* Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico
* Majority Whip Harry Reid of Nevada
* Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana
* John Rockefeller of West Virginia
* Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut
* John Breaux of Louisiana
* John Kerry of Massachusetts
* Ernest Hollings of South Carolina
The following Senate Republicans were named to the panel:
* Minority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi
* Frank Murkowski of Alaska
* Pete Domenici of New Mexico
* Chuck Grassley of Iowa
* Don Nickles of Oklahoma
* Larry Craig of Idaho
* Craig Thomas of Wyoming
* Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado.
This way, they can vote against drilling in ANWR and then say, when drilling occurs, that they voted against it. The Dems would never publicly agree to hang their name on the issue, but many privately concede the drilling is necessary.
Which is why you have one vote for public consumption and another set of actions that will actually govern what happens re: Energy. The entire bill will be approved quietly by the Senate, probably on a voice vote. This will leave everyone's voting record the way they wanted it, but the thing passes anyway.
Happens all th' time.
Michael
Which is why you have one vote for public consumption and another set of actions that will actually govern what happens re: Energy. The entire bill will be approved quietly by the Senate, probably on a voice vote. This will leave everyone's voting record the way they wanted it, but the thing passes anyway.
It'll be interesting to see if it turns out this way. The enviro-left will go after Daschle bigtime if they sense he set up a betrayal of their "victory" with this move.
independent James Jeffords of Vermont
Bwahaha! Virtual Democrat, Jeezum’ Jim, is still clinging to that silly “independent” fiction?
Drilling in ANWR will help 'Save Social Security', IMHO.
I also hope I'm right. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that some controversial element of a bill got tucked into a massive proposal that passes by a voice-vote with a minimum quorum present. It's a LOT easier to defend than an on-the-record vote that's unpopular with some group or another. All you, as the Senator, have to do is say that the bill came up "unexpectedly" while you were out working with the constituents back home. Usually, manoeuvres like this occur the last day before a recess, with most of the crew already thru security at Reagan National and sipping that first airborne cocktail.
Whether they do it or not can often be determined by just how much "hue and cry" there is. If there is little "hue and cry," then the voice-vote-on-minimum-quorum can work just fine. Everyone's done their posturing, then the real bill passes.
Michael
I would think the final version of the Bill is the one where they all go on record, always.
Well...Lot is taller.
Works for me. Let them eat their own for a change.
The pollsters told Daschle that the farmers in South Dakota would elect the Republican to the Senate from South Dakota this fall if the Democrats prevented Alaska from being drilled.They told him if the Alaska drilling goes down, the Republicans will use it and the high gas prices to take the senate back. The choice was drill for oil, or lose the senate for SURE. You can see the choice he made.
Daschle set up the committee so Alaska will be drilled and he can tell his Peta friends it was all a tragic mistake.
But it is not a mistake. Staff will not let you make this mistake. There were at least 3 people on Daschles staff who check this sort of thing to make sure he does not make such a mistatke. It was intentional. Daschle can not aford to give the Republicans this issue.
You are no doubt correct. And I am correct when I say that when this bill comes out of conference and gets the low-uorum voice-vote approval, the media will not report ONE WORD about it. After all, the sheeple have already been told that the Illustrious Dems prevailed and got drilling ANWR killed. No sense in telling them the truth when they can remember the lie.
Michael
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