Burton Pressing for Budget Veto from President Bush

Remember when President Bush would do or sign anything his Republican congress sent his way? Remember, then, how he found his missing ink well to his veto pen when the Democrats took control of Congress in 2006? The following presser is a happy marriage of those two scenarios, while also pressing congress for more environmentally safe drilling.

BURTON TO BUSH: USE VETO TO LIFT DRILLING MORATORIUMS
Burton Urges Bush to Force Congress to Remain in Session if Drilling Moratoriums are Renewed

(Washington, D.C.) – In a letter sent today, Congressman Dan Burton [R-IN-05] asked President Bush to up the ante in the energy debate. With gas prices continuing to impose hardships on Americans, Burton has called on the President to veto any funding bills for Fiscal Year 2009 that contain provisions to renew the drilling ban on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) which is set to expire on September 30, 2008.

If Bush agrees with Burton, the message to Congress would be clear: either let the OCS moratorium expire, or stay here until the issue is debated and resolved on the House Floor. This would occur because, as in most Presidential election years, Congress is expected to pass a lump-sum funding bill, or a Continuing Resolution, for FY 2009. If the President refuses to sign that resolution because of drilling moratorium extensions, it could force the House and Senate to remain in Washington through the end of the year if they don’t agree to allow off-shore drilling.

(Read more after the leap)

In the letter, Burton hailed President Bush’s move earlier this month to lift the executive order that banned drilling. However, Burton asked the President to push Congress to do its part for drilling when he wrote, “With energy prices as out-of-control as they are, the American people are counting on you to stand firm in bringing our country closer to energy independence,” he continued, “We urge you to lead the fight for more American-made energy by vetoing an extension of the OCS moratorium, and if Congress has to stay in session until December to resolve this issue, then so be it.”

Citing recent polls that show a vast majority of Americans support environmentally responsible drilling along the OCS, Burton wrote that he thought the American people would agree with the President’s veto threat if it would lead to greater energy independence and lower gas prices.