The notorious Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) had steam coming out his ears as ANWR demands blocked the defense bill from being passed. It remains a close and heated debate in the Senate as some Senators in both parties crossed the aisle on this measure. The defense bill contains new allocated funding for the military for the 2006 year as well as additional funding for Gulf Coast operations.

Stevens railed on Democrats for holding up the defense bill during war and Democrats closed ranks and attacked Stevens and others for attaching a pet project to something so vital. This fight has been going on for a while now and it will continue.

The Senate showdown came over a provision allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), a measure that was added to the $453 billion fiscal 2006 defense appropriations bill by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). The bill includes money to support U.S. troops in Iraq, as well as $29 billion to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

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Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) charged on the Senate floor, "Our military is being held hostage by this issue, Arctic drilling." Calling the provision "another gift to special interests," he said, "It's time we said no to an abuse of power."

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) said that even though the bill provides vital defense funding, he was joining the filibuster on principle to prevent attachments such as the drilling provision. "If we yield to this tactic on ANWR," he said, "next year it will be someone else's pet project attached to the defense spending bill."

We don't have much left in this country we can preserve. Our own Kentucky is a good example. Coal companies are cutting the tops of mountains off to get at the coal there. It's thorough certainly and the mining companies say it's better for the environment. How good could it be to cut off the tops of the oldest mountain range in the world. This Alaska thing is the same deal.

ANWR is one of the few relatively undisturbed portions of the great wilderness. They never talked about the all the land they've already worked over in order to get oil. Senator Stevens also doesn't talk about the years it will take to get to the oil.He keeps saying "Is it worth the fight?" He should be asked the same question. The greatest GOP president save Lincoln himself was Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy was a preservationist. He went all over the world hunting all kind of wild life. He also recognized the wonder and beauty of our wildlife. He listened to John Muir and established a national park system. He recognized one of our nation's greatest assets was it's natural resources. I don't mean oil or coal, I mean the animals, the plants, the rock formations and all the other.

Oil seeps from the rocks at ANWR. It's homes to many species that don't survive anywhere else. The polar bears are disappearing quick enough without anymore help from us. This fight probably isn't over. Stevens will keep this fight going as long as he can. The measure needs to be pulled from the bill. It'll be back next time for sure and we'll go through this all again. Let's just hope we can keep it out.

posted by Stithmeister @ 11:30 PM
 
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