WASHINGTON - Arguing that the United States should not depend on Iraq as an oil supplier, Republican Sen. Frank Murkowski of Alaska said on Tuesday he will offer this week an amendment to a broad energy bill to allow drilling in the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
Republicans, who have been scrambling to pick up more Senate support for the Arctic drilling proposal, said two prominent Jewish groups concerned about rising Middle East tensions endorsed the plan. The Democratic-led Senate has been debating a broad energy policy for several weeks, with the Alaskan drilling amendment looming as one of its most contentious issues. The bill also seeks to promote conservation, increase funding of renewable energy sources, and encourage more domestic production of coal, nuclear power, natural gas and oil.
Murkowski said Iraq's threat on Monday to stop its oil exports for 30 days in protest of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict shows why oil companies should be allowed to tap the Arctic wildlife refuge's potential 16 billion barrels of oil.
"My intention is to offer an ANWR amendment this week," Murkowski told his colleagues in a Senate floor speech.
Republicans want to allow drilling in a small part of the 19 million acre (7.7 million hectares) refuge, a move they say is safe for the environment and important for U.S. security.
Democrats and green groups contend the Alaskan refuge, which they have dubbed "America's Serengeti," must remain closed to protect caribou, migratory birds and other wildlife.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle accused Republicans of dragging out the ANWR debate and said he wants to have a vote on the drilling issue this week.
JEWISH SUPPORT FOR DRILLING
A coalition of Jewish groups, including the influential American Jewish Congress and B'nai Brith, came out on Tuesday in favor of Senate passage of an energy bill that would allow drilling in the Arctic refuge.
The groups said U.S. foreign policy should not be blackmailed by Iraq's attempt to use oil as a weapon.
Endorsement of Arctic drilling is a reversal for the American Jewish Congress, which adopted a resolution in January saying the amount of potential oil from the refuge was "too small to make a significant impact" on U.S. supplies.
Chuck Brooks, a spokesman for the mainstream group, said on Tuesday that passing comprehensive energy legislation that includes drilling in the refuge was now "a national security imperative."
U.S. purchases of oil from Iraq provide funds to Saddam Hussein to help pay Palestinians suicide bombers $25,000 each, Murkowski said. "Each time an American goes to the gas pump he is funding indirectly the suicide bombers," he said.
BUSH DOWNPLAYS THREAT
Iraq, which ships about 2 million barrels per day of crude oil, is the sixth-largest foreign supplier to the U.S. market.
Murkowski asked Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham late Tuesday for an emergency review of the impact of lost Iraqi oil supplies on the U.S. economy.
"Americans have reason to be concerned. Safe, secure and affordable energy is to our economy as oxygen is to our existence," the senator said in a letter to Abraham.
The White House has downplayed Iraq's threat.
President George W. Bush said he did not expect other oil-producing nations to fall in line behind Iraq.
"You know my opinion about Saddam... the world's not going to follow him," Bush told a Republican fund-raising lunch in Connecticut. "But it just goes to show how important it is to diversify our supply away from places like Iraq."
Abraham said the Bush administration was not seriously considering releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, or delaying crude deliveries to the emergency stockpile to counter any supply disruptions from Iraq.
"We're not at the point of even looking at those options," Abraham said. "It's obviously, however, a tool available to the president should he conclude that national security interests are involved."
The United States has plenty of oil. The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that U.S. weekly oil inventories reached a 3-year high of 326 million barrels.
Lawmakers have spent a total of 15 days so far debating energy legislation, a long period by Senate standards.
But Republicans face an uphill battle to win congressional approval for drilling in the Alaskan refuge.
A Reuters survey late last month found that 40 senators were on record in favor of opening the refuge. Fifty opposed drilling and 10 lawmakers were undecided.
Under the Senate's rules, 60 votes are needed to end debate on controversial measures and proceed to a final vote.
The Republican-led House passed an energy bill last summer that would allow drilling in the Arctic refuge.
"Now it's time for the Senate to finish its job. I regret it's taken this long," Abraham said.:
