ANWR - One Step Closer to Reality

March 16, 2005

The US Senate voted today to reject an amendment that would have removed ANWR provisions in a Senate Budget Resolution (S.C.R 18). The amendment (168), offered by Senator Cantwell (D- WA), was voted down 49-51. So long as ANWR provisions remain in the Budget Reconciliation process, it takes the threat of filibuster out of ANWR’s Senate pathway. The full Budget Resolution is expected to be voted on by the Senate at the end of the week.

On the House side, ANWR is not currently contained in the House FY06 Budget Resolution which is expected to go to final passage late Thursday. It will then likely be sent to Conference Committee where it is hoped that both bodies will concur on a bill containing ANWR language. Assuming both the House and Senate include ANWR provisions, work on a budget reconciliation bill will begin. Upon successful passage of a `budget reconciliation measure containing ANWR by both the House and Senate, the legislation would then proceed to the White House for Presidential signature.

Surviving this first Senate hurdle is a major accomplishment for ANWR legislation, as it has been continuously held up by the Senate in the last few years. In 2003 the House voted supporting ANWR legislation by the largest majority ever, 235 votes.

Senator Pete Dominici R (NM) Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee commented on today’s vote:

“The Senate today affirmed its deep concern for our consumers and our economy. We signaled our concern over dropping fuel inventories, record high energy prices and global uncertainty. We signaled our faith in American ingenuity and technology and we voted our conviction that America must do more to meet its own energy needs.

I have argued for months that now is the time to develop ANWR. I congratulate my colleagues on their conviction and their deep commitment to our economy and our people. I congratulate them for recognizing that American ingenuity allows us to develop energy and still preserve our precious environment.
I recognize that the vote today is the first of several votes this year regarding ANWR. I will continue working toward the opportunity to develop our greatest onshore oil reserve. When we do, I think we will one day look back in bewilderment at the doomsday predictions and wonder why we had so little faith in ourselves for so long.

I look forward to the manifestation of my deep conviction that America can do more to meet its own energy needs and still protect the land and the wildlife of ANWR.”

Senator Jim Bunning R (KY) commented on today’s vote,

“This vote is a critical step toward greater energy independence. As prices continue to rise at the gas pump, and oil prices reaching a record high today of $56 a barrel, America desperately needs a sound energy policy. Two weeks ago I traveled to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and saw first hand how ANWR will be developed in an environmentally sound way to help us become more energy independent and create jobs here at home.

“Once developed, ANWR will provide the United States with nearly 1 million barrels a day or 4.5 percent of today’s consumption for the next thirty years. This alone matches the oil that is imported by Saudi Arabia each and every day. It is estimated that ANWR could fuel the oil needs of Kentucky for the next 80 years.

“After visiting sites in Alaska, there is no doubt in my mind that we can develop ANWR in a safe and effective manner. Exploration will leave only a small “footprint” on the surface that can be engineered in an environmentally sound manner.”

The Cantwell Amendment 168 vote tally is as follows:

49 - 51 Cantwell Vote Tally

Three Democrats -- Sens. Daniel Inouye, and Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana -- voted against Cantwell's amendment. Seven Republicans voted to support it -- Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, John McCain of Arizona and Gordon Smith of Oregon.

YEAs ---49
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chafee (R-RI)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dayton (D-MN)
DeWine (R-OH)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
McCain (R-AZ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Obama (D-IL)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---51
Akaka (D-HI)
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Allen (R-VA)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burns (R-MT)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Frist (R-TN)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Inouye (D-HI)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Roberts (R-KS)
Santorum (R-PA)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Specter (R-PA)
Stevens (R-AK)
Sununu (R-NH)
Talent (R-MO)
Thomas (R-WY)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)