Fairbanks News-Miner

12/20/05

House of Representatives approval of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was less than five hours old Monday morning when senators took up the debate .... When the Senate opened its floor session at 9:30 a.m., Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., asked how his colleagues could even consider approving the same bill. The conference committee that merged the House and Senate versions Sunday clearly violated a Senate rule by adding the ANWR rider, he said. ... A successful point of order would block the bill's passage. To avoid that result, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens and other pro-drilling senators are expected to try to reject the parliamentarian's ruling, a move that would mock the Senate's own rules, Feingold said. Stevens agreed that the Senate rule prohibits the addition of the ANWR language. However, he said, other rules also allow senators the flexibility to temporarily waive the restriction by rejecting the parliamentarian's decision...

http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~3173823,00.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp