Democratic

The Republican-led Senate fended off a Democratic drive Thursday to levy a controversial windfall profits tax on the earnings of major energy companies as part of a $60 billion tax reconciliation package.

The House last Thursday defeated a Democratic non-binding motion that would have instructed House conferees on the omnibus energy bill to strike provisions offering producers of the gasoline additive, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), protection from liability lawsuits stemming from contamination of groundwater sites.

The House on Thursday narrowly defeated a Democratic non-binding motion that would have instructed House conferees on the omnibus energy bill to strike provisions offering producers of the gasoline additive, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), protection from liability lawsuits stemming from contamination of groundwater sites.

The House appointed 34 Republican and 18 Democratic conferees to the omnibus energy bill (HR 6), just hours before the first conference committee on the measure got under way on Thursday.

Three New Jersey Democratic lawmakers have reintroduced legislation that would place a permanent ban on drilling off the Jersey Shore and all of the North and Mid-Atlantic states from Maine to Virginia.

Three New Jersey Democratic lawmakers have reintroduced legislation that would place a permanent ban on drilling off the Jersey Shore and all of the North and Mid-Atlantic states from Maine to Virginia.

Former Enron Corp. Chairman Ken Lay, claiming his indictment two weeks before the Democratic National Convention was politically motivated, last Wednesday challenged the Justice Department to respond to his call for a speedy trial by scheduling it before the November election. The challenge is contained in an op-ed piece written by Lay entitled “The Politics of My Trial” and published in The Washington Post midway through the Republican National Convention.

Former Enron Corp. Chairman Ken Lay, claiming his indictment two weeks before the Democratic National Convention was politically motivated, Wednesday challenged the Justice Department to respond to his call for a speedy trial by scheduling it before the November election. The challenge is contained in an op-ed piece written by Lay entitled “The Politics of My Trial” and published in The Washington Post midway through the Republican National Convention.

In a move that surprised many on Capitol Hill, Senate Republican and Democratic leaders reached a consent deal to attach the 10-year, $13 billion energy tax package to a corporate tax cut measure before leaving for Easter recess.