http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/19/anwar.vote.ap/index.html
Of course, it's completely unrelated to the fact that the war with Iraq started on the same day, but I thought some might be interested. 5 Democrats voted for Bush's proposal, which is usually enough for a sure win, but 8 Republicans voted along the Democrats line.
Looks like it was only 3 years worth of oil anyway. I guess we'll have to look to Venezuela, or maybe..well...somewhere else? Oil well...
Gamaliel
Quotes from CNN:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate on Wednesday narrowly rejected oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge, rebuffing the Bush administration on a top energy goal it had hoped to win with a wartime security appeal.
Drilling supporters failed last year to open the refuge to the oil industry because they couldn't get 60 votes to overcome a Democratic filibuster in the Senate, although the House approved oil development.
This year, Republicans made the measure part of a budget resolution, which is not subject to filibuster, forcing Democrats and a handful of anti-drilling GOP senators, to try to strip the provision from the budget document.
With war looming in Iraq, proponents of pumping the oil in the refuge have focused on energy security, arguing the ANWR oil would help America reduce its reliance on precarious foreign supplies. It's the largest untapped reserve of oil in North America, declared Stevens.
The Interior Department estimates that the plain could have anywhere from 5.7 billion barrels to 16 billion barrels.
The United States uses about 20 million barrels of oil a day.
end of CNN quotes...