Does Congress vote on anything real?
CNN today proclaims, "Senate votes for ANWR oil drilling". But did they really? Always go to the source...
Today the Senate is considering Senate Concurrent Resolution 18, AKA the appropriations bill. The big hullaballo is about Section 304 which states, "If...the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources reports a bill or joint resolution, or... blah blah blah..., that permits exploration and production of oil in the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and such measure is enacted; and...the reconciliation instruction set out in section 201(a)(4) is met,...the chairman of the Committee on the Budget may revise committee allocations for that committee and other appropriate budgetary aggregates and allocations of new budget authority and outlays by the amount provided by that measure for that purpose, but the adjustment may not exceed $350,000,000 in new budget authority in each of fiscal years 2008 through 2010."
Lots of words...but guess what. All of the news media's hype is irrelevant. The Senate didn't approve the appropriations bill, they only struck down an amendment. The amendment, called Senate Amendment 168 states only "Strike Section 201(a)(4)."
Section 201 (a)(4) states "COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES- The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources shall report changes in laws within its jurisdiction sufficient to reduce outlays by $33,000,000 in fiscal year 2006, and $2,658,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2006 through 2010."
So here, apparently, is the line of thinking: By not passing an amendment that eliminates a forced reduction in spending, the Republican controlled Senate has allowed oil drilling in ANRW to begin.
Am I missing something???
Thanks to one of my Senators, Maria Cantwell, for putting up a bogus amendment so that the media can villify the Republicans. Had she really wanted to stop drilling in ANWR, she would have moved to amend Section 304, where drilling in ANWR is actually discussed.
Today the Senate is considering Senate Concurrent Resolution 18, AKA the appropriations bill. The big hullaballo is about Section 304 which states, "If...the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources reports a bill or joint resolution, or... blah blah blah..., that permits exploration and production of oil in the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and such measure is enacted; and...the reconciliation instruction set out in section 201(a)(4) is met,...the chairman of the Committee on the Budget may revise committee allocations for that committee and other appropriate budgetary aggregates and allocations of new budget authority and outlays by the amount provided by that measure for that purpose, but the adjustment may not exceed $350,000,000 in new budget authority in each of fiscal years 2008 through 2010."
Lots of words...but guess what. All of the news media's hype is irrelevant. The Senate didn't approve the appropriations bill, they only struck down an amendment. The amendment, called Senate Amendment 168 states only "Strike Section 201(a)(4)."
Section 201 (a)(4) states "COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES- The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources shall report changes in laws within its jurisdiction sufficient to reduce outlays by $33,000,000 in fiscal year 2006, and $2,658,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2006 through 2010."
So here, apparently, is the line of thinking: By not passing an amendment that eliminates a forced reduction in spending, the Republican controlled Senate has allowed oil drilling in ANRW to begin.
Am I missing something???
Thanks to one of my Senators, Maria Cantwell, for putting up a bogus amendment so that the media can villify the Republicans. Had she really wanted to stop drilling in ANWR, she would have moved to amend Section 304, where drilling in ANWR is actually discussed.
posted by Charlie Brown at 16.3.05
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