WASHINGTON — The showdown in Congress this week over an offshore oil drilling moratorium could lead to a government shutdown if no compromise is reached by the end of the month, lawmakers say.

Many Republicans have vowed to vote against a catch-all spending bill that would fund most of the federal government into next year unless the moratorium is allowed to expire at its Sept. 30 deadline. But Democrats have shown no inclination to allow that to happen.

If the spending bill is defeated, many federal agencies and departments would be forced to close without any new funding.

Instead, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will unveil an energy bill this week, perhaps in combination with the spending bill, that is likely to include some limited new drilling. With the details still in flux Monday evening, many Republicans said they will take a wait-and-see approach to her bill.

“Speaker Pelosi’s bill, from what we’ve heard, would only unleash 12 percent of our domestic (oil) capacity that we have access to,” said Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn. “Clearly, that’s not enough. When we’re talking about ‘all of the above’ solutions, you have to go with a full-blown lifting of the moratorium.”

The moratorium was enacted in 1982 to prohibit oil and gas extraction on most of the outer continental shelf.

Republicans have clamored for it to be lifted, saying the added oil production would bring prices down while making the country less dependent on foreign oil.

Democrats largely have resisted, though some moderates are in favor of more drilling. Oil companies already have access to millions of offshore acres and that any additional leases would take at least a decade to begin producing new oil, Democrats say.

Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., said he supports lifting the moratorium, but he criticized Republicans for using drilling as a wedge issue.

“The moratorium started in 1982 with Ronald Reagan (and has) stayed in place all the way through George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and the current George Bush,” Rep. Davis said. “Republicans have received a new salvation, I guess, on this thing, because it sounds very political.”

In the Senate, where energy legislation also is expected to be the main focus this week, 40 Republican senators, including all four from Tennessee and Georgia, have signed a letter to Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., urging the moratorium’s lifting.

Still, Sen. Corker said he doubts a government shutdown will occur. The last time a government shutdown happened, in 1995, congressional Republicans took the brunt of public criticism for their impasse with President Clinton over the budget, which threatened a delay of Social Security and Medicare checks.

“There’s an old adage I’ve heard repeated up here that once you’ve been kicked in the shin by a mule, there’s nothing to be learned by being kicked again,” Sen. Corker said.

Comments