About the 108th Congress
At the start of the 107th Congress things looked bleak for the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge. Drilling in the Arctic had been a campaign promise
for incoming President George W. Bush, and it appeared that our new
President would have support in the Republican controlled Congress.

The Bush Administration and other proponents of drilling in Arctic worked
tirelessly to include provisions to drill in the Arctic Refuge in a variety
of legislative vehicles, including the budget process, energy legislation,
the Railroad Retirement Bill, the Defense Authorization Bill, anti-human
cloning legislation and an aviation security bill. Due to intense pressure
by the Administration and the Teamsters, the House of Representatives
approved an Arctic drilling provision to the Energy Bill on August 3, 2001.
This vote left the fate of the Refuge in the hands of the Senate.

Until April of 2002, drilling the Arctic was Alaska's Senator Frank
Murkowski's single crusade. When the Senate debated the Energy Bill from
February to April of this year, Sen. Murkowski spoke for hours on the Senate
floor - he filibustered more than the Senators who actually instigated the
filibuster against Arctic drilling - Senators Kerry and Lieberman.
Remarkably, even after losing on the Senate floor in April, Senator
Murkowski continued his efforts during the House and Senate Energy
Conference Committee. During the last months of the session, the Conference
Committee talks broke down and the legislation was scrapped.

In the 108th Congress, advocates for drilling will continue their drive to
open the Arctic Refuge to oil and gas exploration. Just as they did last
year, they will try every and any way to include provisions to drill in the
Refuge.  The incoming chair of the Senate Energy Committee, Sen. Pete
Domenici (R - NM) has made it clear that the new Energy Bill will include
drilling. The Senator has also stated that he was considering the option of
attaching an Arctic Refuge leasing provision to a reconciliation bill.
Drilling proponents attempted this before in 1995 and the resulting bill was
vetoed by President Clinton.

In a report from the Anchorage Daily News on December 17, 2002, Sen. Stevens
stated that opening the Refuge to drilling would be his number one priority
next year. He said that he and the rest of the Alaska delegation have been
trying to get the area opened since 1980 and attacked environmentalists for
standing in this way.

In the face of this opposition, the bipartisan coalition in the House and
the Senate to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will stand strong.
In the House, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT), and in
the Senate, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), have
pledged to stop any attempt to drill in the Arctic Refuge and support bills
that would give this area permanent protection.