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Nelson Wants No Compromise On Offshore Drilling

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Jul 24, 2006 6:13 pm US/Eastern

Nelson Wants No Compromise On Offshore Drilling

TALLAHASSEE (CBS) ― U-S Senator Bill Nelson said today that he plans to ask the Senate to amend its offshore drilling bill to prohibit any compromise with the House. Both bills would allow new off shore drilling near Florida, but the House bill would allow it much closer to shore.

Nelson wants assurance, either through the amendment or from congressional leaders, that the bill negotiated by fellow Florida Senator Mel Martinez would not be watered down in conference committee negotiations with the House before he votes for it. A Senate vote is expected later this week.

The Senate bill would open new areas off Florida to drilling but keep rigs 235 miles off the state's west coast to protect military testing and training ranges in the Gulf of Mexico and 125 miles offshore elsewhere through 2022.

The House has approved a more expansive bill that also would protect the military area but allow drilling 50 miles or more from shore everywhere else. States would have the option of increasing the no-drilling buffer to 100 miles.

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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