CQ TODAY Aug. 10, 2005 * 12:41 p.m. 

Two Dozen House Republicans Oppose Arctic Refuge Drilling By Jonathan Allen, CQ Staff Two dozen House Republicans, including three committee chairmen, want provisions opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling left out of a budget "reconciliation" package that will be assembled in mid-September. In an Aug. 4 letter to House Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo, R-Calif., which also went to Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, the lawmakers wrote that they "would have serious concerns about any budget bill that contains provisions authorizing the development of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge." 

Under the budget resolution (H Con Res 95), the Resources Committee is instructed to come up with $2.4 billion in savings over five years from programs under its jurisdiction by Sept. 16. That figure, equal to the anticipated receipts from oil and gas leasing in ANWR, represents the panel's portion of a $34.7 billion "reconciliation" package that would enjoy protection from a Senate filibuster. The letter-writers, led by Rep. Jeb Bradley, R-N.H., did not identify how they would prefer to hit the savings target. Opposition from such a significant bloc of House Republicans underscores the difficulty GOP leaders face in putting together a package that can pass in both chambers. 

While the House has approved oil and gas exploration in ANWR in the past on separate legislation, Republican leaders have little room for error on budget packages, which typically pass with a two- or three-vote majority. In April, the House rejected an amendment to its version of the energy bill (HR 6) that would have stripped language authorizing oil and gas exploration in ANWR. The amendment failed, 200-231. But the House vote on the budget conference report eight days later was a much narrower 214-211. Because the budget deals with so many issues at once, several groups of potential defectors often arise as budget votes near. 

The ANWR group is notable because it includes a trio of committee chairmen: Science Chairman Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., Judiciary Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis., and Government Reform Chairman Thomas M. Davis III, R-Va. Of the 24 signers, nine voted against the budget resolution. In addition to Bradley, Boehlert, Davis and Sensenbrenner, the signers are: Nancy L. Johnson and Christopher Shays of Connecticut; H. James Saxton, Mike Ferguson and Christopher H. Smith of New Jersey, Michael N. Castle of Delaware, Timothy Johnson and Mark Kirk of Illinois, Jim Leach of Iowa, Wayne T. Gilchrest and Roscoe G. Bartlett of Maryland, Michael Fitzpatrick and Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania, Sue W. Kelly of New York, Charles Bass of New Hampshire, Dave Reichert of Washington, Bob Inglis of South Carolina, Mark Kennedy and Jim Ramstad of Minnesota, and Joe Schwarz of Michigan. 

The letter, however, did not paint the lawmakers into the corner of vowing to vote against a reconciliation package that would open ANWR.