House GOP Blocks Effort To Open U.S. Fuel Reserve
By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press | July 24, 2008
WASHINGTON — House Republicans have killed a Democratic effort to release 70 million barrels of oil from the government's emergency stockpile. Democrats hoped the extra oil would have helped lower pump prices right away.
Their bill would have forced the Energy Department to release the oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That stockpile now holds 700 million barrels of oil in reserve.
The 70 million barrels is about a three-day supply for America. Democrats said it would have meant immediate relief at the pump — just as releases did in 1991, 2000 and 2005.
The bill won a clear 268-157 majority today. But it still lost because Democratic leaders brought up the bill under terms requiring a two-thirds vote to pass.
