House Republicans On Recess, But Debate Offshore Drilling Monday

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - House Republicans will be back in Congress on Monday to hold a debate about offshore drilling, despite having begun their summer recess last week.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) issued a memo, A Call to Action on American Energy, over the weekend asking Republican colleagues to "make a stand" until their request for an emergency session to hold a vote on the energy bill is followed.

"It's not a request we make lightly. But the American people are suffering," Boehner and Blunt wrote in the memo. "The consequences of continued congressional inaction on gas prices are unacceptable... If you can't be in Washington, we ask that you contribute to the cause in other ways - such as spreading the word among your constituents, writing an op-ed for your local newspaper, or taking our 'all of the above' energy message to your local airwaves."

Monday's debate will begin at 10 p.m. ET. It follows a nearly six-hour Republican floor protest last Friday after the House adjourned for the August recess. Reps. Mike Pence (R-IN), Tom Price (R-GA) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) led a talkathon that began about noon; the audience included interns, staff members, and tourists. The protest ended with Price leading a rendition of "God Bless America."

Boehner sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) the same day saying a recess sends "a bad message" to Americans faced with record gas prices. You have the power to call Congress back into session at any moment to deal with issues of urgent national importance," he wrote.

Republicans have been calling for an end to the legislative ban on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Democrats have argued that that oil companies should first drill on the 68 million acres of land already leased to them and that excessive speculation in oil markets is the root cause of rising oil prices.

Offshore drilling is prohibited by a legislative moratorium adopted in 1981 and an executive order issued by former President George H.W. Bush in 1990.

President George W. Bush lifted the executive order early this month. He rebuked Congress last Wednesday for failing to lift the legislative ban before another scheduled recess.

Pelosi has also been trying to authorize a release from the nation's stockpile. The Strategic Oil Reserve is currently 97 percent full with 702 million barrels of oil. The U.S. consumes 20 million barrels daily.

The Speaker made clear Sunday that she would not allow a vote on drilling to reach the floor. "I'm not giving the gavel away to a tactic ... that supports the oil (companies), big oil at the cost and the expense of the consumer," Pelosi told ABC.