A vote on whether to remove the congressional ban on oil and natural gas leasing on most of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) was placed in limbo Thursday after a House Appropriations Committee abruptly adjourned a markup when Republicans tried to force the panel to take up the Interior Department spending bill that addresses the offshore ban, CQ Today reported.

A committee spokeswoman told NGI early Thursday that a vote on an Interior spending bill amendment to remove the drilling moratorium, sponsored by Rep. John Peterson (R-PA), had been tentatively rescheduled for July 9, when Congress returns from its Fourth of July recess. However, when asked during markup Thursday to give his assurance that he would bring the Interior spending measure up for a vote when Congress returns from recess, Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) declined, according to CQ Today.

The outcome of the vote on the offshore moratorium takes on greater significance given that President Bush; Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican candidate for president; and other prominent Republicans have called in recent days for Congress to lift the OCS ban (see Daily GPI, June 19; June 18).

The committee vote initially was scheduled for June 18, but it was canceled so the House could take up emergency supplemental funding for Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the committee. While Republicans are eager for the Interior spending bill to be come before the committee, Rep. Jerry Lewis of California, the ranking Republican on the appropriations panel, indicated that he does not believe Obey plans to bring the bill up for a vote in the committee.

The House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee earlier this month rejected (9-6) Peterson’s amendment to the Department of Interior and related agencies’ spending bill for fiscal year 2009 (see Daily GPI, June 12). The vote broke down along party lines, with every Democrat on the subcommittee opposing the amendment. The measure sought to remove the congressional moratorium on oil and natural gas preleasing, leasing and associated activities in areas 50-200 miles from the East and West Coasts, as well as in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Peterson, an avowed proponent of opening federally protected waters to expanded drilling, said he planned to offer the amendment again when the full Appropriations Committee marks up the Interior spending bill. The House lawmaker has tried repeatedly to remove the congressional ban on offshore leasing, which is routinely renewed each year as part of the Interior appropriations bill.

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