The Senate voted 52-47 on Thursday on the budget reconciliation, with Republicans rebuffing Democratic attempts to remove drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from the measure.

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) offered an amendment to strip the bill of the drilling provision. It was rejected by a vote of 51-48.

Sens. Gordon Smith of Oregon and John McCain of Arizona, both Republicans on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, voted against drilling. Democratic Sens. Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, also on the committee, voted for drilling.

As for the budget reconciliation, all but five Republicans voted for it. They were joined by two Democrats in passing the bill.

Get the Story:
ANWR drilling passes the Senate (The Anchorage Daily News 11/4)
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Senate OKs ANWR drilling (The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 11/4)
Senate vote pushes ahead plan to drill in Alaska (AP 11/4)
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Senate Passes Plan to Cut $35 Billion From Deficit (The Washington Post 11/4)
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Senate Passes Budget With Benefit Cuts and Oil Drilling (The New York Times 11/4)
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Relevant Links:
Arctic Slope Regional Corp - http://www.asrc.com
Gwic'hin Steering Committee - http://www.alaska.net/~gwichin
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Willdife Service - http://arctic.fws.gov
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Pro-Development site - http://www.anwr.org

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