WASHINGTON — The bipartisan “Gang of 10” energy bill backed by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.; Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., doesn’t go nearly far enough in addressing the country’s energy needs, said Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.

“I’m afraid the Senate proposal is drinking out of a straw when we need to have a fire hose,” Rep. Wamp said.

He backs a bipartisan House proposal that allows for offshore drilling on all coastal states, not just in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic coasts of Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia, as outlined by the Senate package.

“Ours doesn’t have just a narrow seven-state footprint,” Rep. Wamp said. “Ours has drilling everywhere, and we need at least the House bill.”

Sen. Corker said the Gang of 10 bill, which now has 20 co-sponsors — 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans — is the best compromise that can pass both the House and the Senate.

“This bill isn’t perfect,” Sen. Corker conceded. “We’ll see what happens. I’m more committed to it today than the day we announced it. This bill is a framework.”

GANG OF 10 PLAN CALLED TAX HIKE

Republicans in the Gang of 10 also have run afoul of Americans for Tax Reform, which says the lawmakers have broken the anti-tax pledge they signed when running for office.

The bipartisan Gang of 10 has introduced a compromise energy bill that would close tax loopholes enjoyed by oil companies, but to Americans for Tax Reform, led by anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist, that amounts to a tax increase.

“On net, this ‘compromise’ is a violation of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge because it increases net income taxes” on oil companies, the group said in a news release. “Repealing (the tax breaks) is estimated to cost over 600,000 American jobs and will do nothing to lower gas prices or stimulate production.”

The energy proposal rolls back tax breaks for oil companies that were enacted three years ago.

CORKER PRESSES FOR U.N. OVERSIGHT

Sen. Corker has taken on a new role as Congress’s representative to the United Nations General Assembly and said he will work toward “greater oversight and scrutiny” of the international organization.

“Like many Tennesseans, I have significant questions about the effectiveness of the United Nations and its desire to appropriately deal with many of the issues afflicting it,” said Sen. Corker, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

During a committee hearing, he said the UN should have more internal audits, whistle-blower protection and more stringent accounting standards.

“The U.N. seems to me to be continually, because of that lack of change, losing relevance as it relates to solving some of the major issues that we have,” Sen. Corker said.

His term as congressional representative begins this month and ends in August 2009.

MR. BELDING GOES TO WASHINGTON

Rep. Wamp had a celebrity guest with him as he made his rounds through the Capitol on Wednesday.

Chattanooga native and “Saved by the Bell” star Dennis Haskins was in Washington, and Rep. Wamp made sure he got to meet several members of Congress, some of whom posed for pictures with the affable actor.

Mr. Haskins played principal Richard Belding on the syndicated sitcom.

“I’ve known him since he was a concert promoter in Chattanooga in the ’70s,” Rep. Wamp said. “A lot of kids grew up watching him every day. He’s a great guy with a good spirit.”

Mr. Haskins said he recently completed filming a National Lampoon comedy and an independent film in Louisiana.

Compiled by Washington correspondent Herman Wang.

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