Senate Passes Stop-Gap Funding Bill, Ends Ban On Offshore Drilling

September 28, 2008 5:40 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Senate lawmakers voted Saturday to end a 26-year ban on offshore drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts as part of a $630 billion stop gap funding bill that continues government spending at its current level through March 6, 2009.

The decision to end the ban on drilling is considered a victory for Republicans and a defeat for environmentalists. With recent gas price hikes, ending the ban on drilling had even gathered in Florida, despite the fact that the state depends on dollars from tourists visiting its hundreds of miles of beaches and fears that an oil spill could destroy those beaches.

Other things included in the legislation were money for the Pentagon, the Homeland Security Department, veteran's programs, military base construction projects, subsidies for federal loans to automakers and aid to Gulf Coast hurricane disaster victims, money for student loans and energy assistance programs.

The vote in the Senate was 78-12, on Wednesday the House had passed the stop gap funding bill by a 370-58 vote.

President Bush is expected to sign the legislation into law.