December 15, 2005
Negotiations on budget-cutting bill to end this week
By Peter Cohn and Emily Heil, CongressDaily
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., have instructed the Budget committees to wrap up negotiations on the massive budget reconciliation bill Thursday and be prepared to go to conference Friday.
The timetable virtually guarantees the reconciliation package will not contain controversial provisions that would allow exploratory drilling for oil and natural gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Even before the leaders issued their instructions, House and Senate Republicans were beginning to look for an alternate vehicle for the ANWR language because a compromise was proving difficult and the stalemate was threatening to ruin chances for passage of the overall bill this week.
House Energy and Commerce Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, said ANWR continued to be the "900-pound gorilla" on reconciliation. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., was even more direct, saying before the leaders' instructions that ANWR drilling would not be part of reconciliation because of sufficient opposition in the House.
"It's obvious it can't go on reconciliation," but other options are available, he said.
One option gaining steam is including ANWR in the must-pass fiscal 2006 Defense appropriations bill, which GOP leaders are reserving as the last legislative vehicle of the session, daring members to vote against funds for troops.
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