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The Power of Conference Committees: The Defense Bill Has New Riders

When the House and Senate pass a bill, each version goes to a group of legislators from both parties and both houses of Congress. This committee, called a conference committee, works out the differences between the two bills and presents a final version to the House and Senate for approval.

Did you know that conference committees often add laws to the final versions that were not in the original House or Senate bills?

The Defense Authorization Bill, for example, has a bunch of new provisions.

New Defense Bill

The Fiscal Year 2006 Defense Authorization Bill, which will provide another $50 billion to the efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, also allows for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and prevents detainees in U.S. custody from being tortured.

These new laws were added to the bill in conference committee and were not a part of the original legislation.

The House passed the conference report on December 19, 2005, so now it moves to the Senate, where it will face a tougher battle.

ANWR addition

For over a decade, Americans have debated about drilling for oil in Alaska’s wildlife preserves. Now that fight is attached to a defense spending bill.

Both sides feel that the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is the last frontier. Those who support drilling in ANWR believe it is one of the best remaining prospects for significant oil discovery in the United States; those who oppose drilling maintain that it is some of the last untouched wilderness in the country and there is not much oil there, especially compared to Canada.

Those in favor of drilling say:

There are very few prospects for drilling in the U.S. but there are many benefits to domestic oil:

• New domestic oil production would create new jobs and raise the gross national product by many billions of dollars.
• Imported oil is too costly and increases our dependence on the Middle East.
• Very little of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will be affected by oil drilling and production. The draft proposal that is currently in committee allows development in just 2,000 acres of the 1.5 million-acre costal plain of ANWR.
• Oil and gas development can successfully coexist with Alaska’s arctic wildlife. The caribou herd at Prudhoe Bay (a huge oilfield) has grown in size, so the industry does not seem to inhibit mating and migration.
• The likelihood of finding oil in ANWR is one in five. The industry considers these to be good odds, since there is a potential for high return. The peak output could reach up to 800,000 barrels a day, or 10% of all U.S. production.

Environmentalists say:

Drilling for oil in ANWR is not the best solution to our energy problems.

• Improving the fuel efficiency of motor vehicles could save more barrels of oil than can be extracted from the Arctic Refuge.
• Oil is not a renewable resource, once we extract it from the land, it will be gone.
• Drilling for oil in ANWR is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. If we find oil in ANWR, it will last us a relatively short period of time. The damage that we do in extracting the oil could last for generations.
• Oil drilling and production in ANWR is certain to affect the plant and animal life there. ANWR is some of the last untouched land in the country, if not the world. It is not worth the risk of oil spills and damage to the fragile tundra.
• Studies show that the caribou can be negatively affected by development. Some developed areas in the region have seen a 20% decrease in herd birthrates.
• Drilling in Alaska will not solve the problems that we are having in the Middle East right now. It would take at least 10 years for oil from ANWR to be used in American fuel tanks. Our Canadian friends have vast oil reserves and a stable government. They are a better source.

Tribal conflicts

The Gwich’in, a Native American tribe in the region, strongly oppose the idea of drilling for oil in the nature preserve. They are particularly concerned about the Porcupine caribou that live there. For thousands of years, the Gwich’in tribe has relied on and honored the caribou. The animal is central to their cultural and spiritual life; the relationship parallels that of the Plains Indians and their Great Plains buffalo, which now face extinction. The Gwich’in do not want their honored caribou to meet the same fate.

Another native group, the Inupiat, is in favor of oil drilling in ANWR. The Inupiat Eskimos live on the North Slope costal plain, a region with no other industry due to its harsh conditions. In the winter, there are two months of total darkness and the temperature can drop to 50 below zero. Although they originally claimed the entire 55 million acres of the North Slope, they now own only 5 million, all of which are in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge. Oil drilling and production would bring considerable revenue to this group, allowing them to strengthen the North Slope Borough infrastructure. This means improved schools, healthcare, waterlines, and heating for the Inupiat people.

In addition, the Inupiat environmental regulations are much stricter than those of the EPA, so any drilling on their land is likely to do less damage. With the Inupiat as watchdogs, oil companies are less likely to violate environmental standards.

Alaska says yes

Many Alaskans are in favor of drilling for the same reason. The state stands to gain over a billion dollars from the enterprise. Since Alaska depends on the oil industry for most of its revenue, the state’s Senators and Representatives have reason to support the provision.

In addition, drilling in ANWR would generate $2.5 billion for the U.S. Treasury from drilling leases.

Previously, the provision was attached to a budget reconciliation bill, but ANWR disputes stalled it, so Republican leaders shifted the provision to the Defense Authorization Bill instead.

By attaching ANWR to a defense bill, Republicans put Democrats in the difficult position of blocking legislation that provides much needed funds to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Anti-torture addition

Conferees also added a contentious anti-torture provision sponsored by Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), himself a victim of torture for five years in Vietnam, which would prohibit inhumane treatment of enemy combatants.

Specifically, the provision would require military interrogators to abide by an Army field manual that is already in compliance with a series of international laws on warfare or, the Geneva Convention.

Although the Geneva Convention and the Army manual already prohibit torture, the cruel acts performed at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq demonstrate a need for further action. Senator McCain said that there is a lot of confusion in the field about what is permitted and believes that his amendment to the Defense spending bill would help to clarify the rules.

Initially, the White House said that adding another law to the books was unnecessary and redundant since Congress passed a similar provision in 2004. That law, buried deep in the Fiscal Year 2005 defense authorization bill, required that the Defense secretary ensure humane treatment of detainees and that the Defense Department regularly report to Congress on any criminal investigations arising from detentions. This language, which is more vague and less effective than the McCain amendment, has been the only legislation to come out of the Abu Ghraib scandal so far.

Pressure to endorse the legislation eventually caused the White House to back down, and President Bush is not expected to veto the bill, although he initially threatened to do so.

What happens next?

GOP leaders think they can pass the defense bill with the ANWR provision in the Senate, but Democrats have nearly enough votes to force Republicans to drop it.

Do you think the argument over ANWR should be connected to a defense spending bill? How do you feel about the ANWR and anti-torture laws? What would you like to tell your Senators and Representatives about the defense bill and its new provisions?

To tell them, click here.

What do you think?

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Update Posted on: 12/24/2005