Reuters: Senate leaders strike deal on offshore drilling [View All]

[Eugene]

Senate leaders strike deal on offshore drilling
Wed Jul 12, 2006 12:43pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate have struck a deal
with key party members including Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida that would allow
the chamber to vote on opening the eastern Gulf of Mexico to energy exploration,
Senate aides said on Wednesday.

Sen. Pete Domenici, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, is pressing for a
vote this month on a plan that would develop the Outer Continental Shelf off Florida,
including a controversial area known as "Lease Sale 181."

Domenici and Martinez met with Majority Leader Bill Frist on Tuesday, and have struck
a deal that will allow the legislation to proceed to a vote in coming days, aides said
on condition of anonymity.

Lawmakers including Frist and Domenici are expected to announce the deal later
Wednesday, aides said.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-07-12T164335Z_01_N12293886_RTRUKOC_0_US-ENERGY-CONGRESS.xml