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Subject: Roll call article/DeLay ANWR a Precedent
Roll Call
DeLay: ANWR a ¡¥Precedent¡¦
September 25, 2003
By John Bresnahan,
Roll Call Staff
On Tuesday, during a closed-door session of the House GOP leadership,
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) said that the battle in
Congress to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil
exploration is a fight over whether energy exploration will be allowed in
similarly sensitive areas in the future, a statement that surprised even
Republicans in the room.
According to several GOP sources, DeLay insisted that backing down on
ANWR would be a mistake for those who support the measure, popular with
the oil industry, although DeLay also acknowledged that the provision was
likely to fare poorly in the Senate because of opposition from Democrats
and GOP moderates.
¡§It¡¦s about the precedent,¡¨ DeLay told the assembled Republican
leaders while making several references to the ¡§symbolism of ANWR,¡¨
according to GOP sources.
DeLay even joked that a victory on ANWR would allow the oil industry to
push into other pristine areas, ¡§except for the coast of California.¡¨
Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.), the GOP Conference secretary and one the
most hard-line Republicans in the House, then responded that drilling off
California was ¡§OK with him.¡¨
Several GOP insiders were startled that DeLay contradicted the Bush
administration line on the issue. Officials have stressed repeatedly that
the battle over ANWR was not symbolic, but rather about the resources
that could be tapped there.
¡§I was surprised to hear that position stated so openly,¡¨ said a
Republican source who attended the meeting. ¡§He came right out and said
it. There wasn¡¦t any beating around the bush.¡¨
But a senior GOP lawmaker who also heard DeLay¡¦s comment cautioned, ¡§No
one was taking it seriously¡¨ because party leaders know the provision
has little chance of surviving a House-Senate conference on the energy
bill. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.)
has said he¡¦ll pull the provision if it threatens passage of a
comprehensive energy package.
Until now, backers of drilling in ANWR like DeLay have been very careful
to wrap themselves in a mantle of national security and energy
independence for the United States, while also insisting that any
drilling there would leave only a small ¡§footprint¡¨ amounting to 2,000
acres in a huge area of more than 1 million acres.
DeLay and other GOP leaders are also betting that Farm Belt Democrats in
the Senate, especially Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), won¡¦t kill
an energy bill that includes increased federal support for ethanol, the
corn-based fuel alternative popular with farmers across the Midwest.
Jonathan Grella, a DeLay spokesman, said DeLay¡¦s comments have to be
viewed in the overall context of the ANWR debate.
¡§Exploring in ANWR would bring us close to energy independence,¡¨ said
Grella, who added that ¡§what the Congressman spoke to [during the GOP
leadership meeting] was the political impact of this very contentious
issue.¡¨
¡§Those on the extreme left would agree that ANWR is a contentious issue
and the stakes are high for the future of energy issues,¡¨ said Grella.
But Dan Lavery, a spokesman for the Sierra Club, an environmental group
opposed to drilling in ANWR, said DeLay¡¦s position has repeatedly been
rejected by a large majority of Americans.
¡§If Mr. DeLay wants to turn this into a symbolic effort on whether
Americans want to expose special areas to oil drilling, there¡¦s poll
after poll showing that they do not,¡¨ said Lavery.
Daschle has also vowed that he would not back down on his opposition to
the ANWR provision.
¡§If ANWR is in the energy conference, that legislation will not pass,¡¨
Daschle told reporters earlier this week.
¡§I had a conversation with Sen. Domenici and have indicated to him that
more than 45 Senators have expressed themselves on this issue. More than
45 Senators have indicated that ANWR will kill what is otherwise perhaps
the best prospect for a comprehensive energy bill in years. What a
tragedy it would be, and that was my message to Senator Domenici and
he¡¦ll have to take that into account.¡¨
Thea Levkovitz
Outreach Coordinator
The Wilderness Society
1424 Fourth Avenue, Suite 816
Seattle, Washington 98101
206 624 6430
206 624 7101 Fax
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www.wilderness.org
Love is the strongest weapon in the world that will overcome obstacles.
Hazrat Inayat Khan
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