Lawmakers Seek to Keep Oil Out of Reserve

Congress voted overwhelmingly yesterday to challenge President Bush to temporarily halt the daily shipment of thousands of barrels of oil into the government's emergency reserve.

Lawmakers disagreed on what -- if any -- impact the suspension might have on gasoline prices and acknowledged that it was but "a modest step" in addressing public anger over soaring energy costs.

Bush has steadfastly refused to stop shipments of about 70,000 barrels of oil a day into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a system of salt caverns along the Gulf Coast. The reserve, created to respond to major oil supply disruptions, holds 701 million barrels and is 97 percent near capacity.

"There is no evidence that [suspending shipments] will affect the price of oil or gasoline in a meaningful way," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said. He said the president opposes any congressional mandate to stop deliveries and thinks Congress should focus on broader energy issues.

The Senate voted 97 to 1 to suspend the shipments for the rest of the year. Hours later, the House followed suit, voting 385 to 25 to stop the deliveries. The votes do not compel Bush to act because the measures differ somewhat and would need to be reconciled before final congressional approval.

Still, the votes were symbolic of lawmakers' frustrations at not being able to agree on anything more substantive in response to public anger over near $4-a-gallon gasoline and oil prices in the $125-a-barrel range.