Tom Daschle (D) sells out the backcountry, fishing - will vote for Energy bill

Here is the Senators contact information:

Let him know he is a disgrace to backcountry fans everywhere. Please
inform his staff you want him to resign from his Senate leadership
position, and from the Senate if he votes for the Energy Bill. A true
backcountry traitor if there ever was one. Thanks Tom, for nothing (
note a blunder by Daschle also started the healty forest initiative).

Washington Office:
509 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-4103
Phone: (202) 224-2321
Fax: (202) 224-6603

Main District Office:
320 N. Main Ave., Ste. B
Sioux Falls, SD 57104
Phone: (605) 334-9596
Fax: (605) 334-2591

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Politics/...1119_2082.html

Daschle Says He Will Vote for Energy Bill
Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle Says He Will Vote for Energy Bill

The Associated Press



WASHINGTON Nov. 19 — Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle is ready to
support the broad energy bill and will oppose attempts to scuttle it
by a filibuster, one of the senator's aides said Wednesday.
The decision casts doubt on whether opponents can succeed in blocking
the bill through a filibuster over a dispute involving the gasoline
additive MTBE, which has been found to contaminate drinking water
supplies.






A spokesman for Daschle, Dan Pfeiffer, said the South Dakota senator
will vote for ending debate on the bill, overcoming a filibuster, as
long as senators are given time to adequately debate the legislation.

"There is a lot of legitimate concern about the bill on both sides of
the aisle ... (but) he will support it because of ethanol and other
provisions in the bill on energy efficiency," Pfeiffer said.

On Wednesday night, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and
other Republicans set a parliamentary vote for Friday for ending the
debate. That would force a final up-or-down decision on the 1,100-page
bill.

Republicans hope to finish the bill and send it to President Bush
before the end of the week. The House passed the energy legislation by
a wide margin on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, Daschle made known his support of the bill in an
interview with a Yankton, S.D., radio station, WNAX, in which he said
that while the legislation wasn't perfect, it was good news for
ethanol and other renewable fuels.

South Dakota is a major producer of corn-based ethanol. The bill calls
for doubling ethanol production to 5 billion gallons a year by 2012.

As Senate debate began Wednesday on the GOP-written bill, some
Republican lawmakers prepared to break ranks in a showdown over a
provision that would shield makers of MTBE for product liability
lawsuits charging that it is polluting water supplies.

A number of Democrats, joined by a handful of Republicans, have been
considering a filibuster over the issue, but it's uncertain how much
support they have. The stalling procedure can be turned back by 60
votes.

"It's neck-and-neck, it's a horse race," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.,
said of the informal vote count. "We'll certainly lose some Democrats
and we'll certainly pick up some Republicans."

Daschle's support has been seen as crucial to the bill's passage.
Daschle said in the radio interview that he was disappointed with the
MTBE waiver but that he would support an end to debate as long as
senators were given adequate time to debate the issue and the bill.

Senate approval is the last hurdle to getting the bill to President
Bush, who is eager to sign it.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who opposes the bill because of the MTBE
waiver and other issues said, "I've been for ethanol for 21 years, and
I just can't do this. That's a bargain with the devil."

Some Republicans, especially those from New Hampshire, Maine and
Arizona have protested the industry subsidies in the bill as well as
the MTBE liability provision.

"If a person cannot live in their home, is that not a health hazard?"
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., angrily asked Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., on
the Senate floor. The bill would undermine New Hampshire's lawsuit
against 22 oil companies over MTBE water contamination.

They complained the bill subsidizes Midwest coal-fired power plants
whose air pollution drifts over the Northeast and will not fix
problems that led to the Aug. 14 blackout.

"It is biased against the Northeast," said Sen. Susan Collins,
R-Maine. "This bill does not offer the balanced energy policy that
America needs."

But Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., called it "truly the best bill this
Congress can produce. ... We all have something to gain from this
compromise."

The bill resulted from 2 1/2 months of sometimes bitter negotiations
between House and Senate Republicans and almost no input from
Democrats. It would provide $23 billion in tax incentives and includes
measures to produce more coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear power.