[BCNnet] Call Congressman Kirk before noon re: ANWR

[Judy Pollock]

Urgent Action Needed by NOON TODAY! Please forward to your friends,
families, and appropriate lists.

March madness has officially begun here in Washington, DC. Rather than the
NCAA Tournament championship the fate of the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge is at stake. We have succeeded in removing the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge from the budget, at least in theory. But this morning we
learned that last night language was inserted into the bill that would
actually ASSUME revenue from the Arctic Refuge. 

What this means is that without actually writing language that would permit
oil and gas drilling in the Refuge House pro-drilling members are going to
allow the revenue of proposed drilling to be assumed in the budget at 1.5
million dollars. If this language is allowed to remain they will have
succeeded in the classic back-door maneuver and with a bank shot include
drilling in the Arctic Refuge in the budget!

Today at 1:00 EST (12:00 Illinois time) moderate House Republicans will be
meeting. We are urging that this situation be included in their agenda, and
your phone call in the next few hours could help us garner enough support
to have this sneak attack removed from the bill.

Specifically folks in Congressman Ray Lahood, Mark Kirk, and Tim Johnson
need to pick up the phone and call the Washington, DC offices asking their
Representatives to urge their Republican colleagues to oppose the back door
attack on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and request that they strike
the reconciliation instruction from the House Budget Bill.

This is one of the sneakiest political maneuvers I have seen since coming
to Washington.
Ray Lahood can be reached at 202-225-6201 or 309-671-7027
Mark Kirk can be reached at 202-225-4835 or 847-940-0202
Tim Johnson can be reached at 202-225-2371 or 217-403-4690
Make your calls soon!

Kristen Berry
Audubon Public Policy
1150 Connecticut Avenue
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
Office: 202-861-2242
Cell: 202-549-1032