John Kerry: A Win for Reform as ANWR Drilling is Removed from Defense Appropriations Bill

As Ron posted a short time ago, the Senate rejected ANWR Drilling. Ted Stevens denied Democratic charges that he violated a Senate rule (see this post for rule violation) "to get the drilling provision inserted into the defense appropriations bill. "There's nothing I've done here that violated the rules," he said."

John Kerry made the following statement after defeating an attempt to include drilling for oil in the Arctic Refuge as part of the Defense Appropriations Bill:

“The Senate today stood up against a dangerous abuse of power and made it clear it’s unacceptable to put oil companies ahead of our troops. We won’t be bullied, we won’t be blackmailed. The lines have rarely been drawn so clearly between right and wrong. It’s wrong to put the wishes of oil companies ahead of brave American soldiers. It’s right to stand up, speak your mind, and follow your conscience by keeping faith with our troops and starting to fix a broken Washington. This is just the start. As long as I have a vote in the United States Senate, I won’t let special interest demands destroy the environment and endanger our energy security. This is a start to the fight to reform Washington.”