Victory in the Senate!

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge scored a huge end-of-the-year victory yesterday, when a drilling provision was forced off of a Defense Appropriations Bill in the Senate. The provision had been tacked on at the last minute by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) in a move that violated Senate rules and angered many of his fellow senators.

Sixty votes were needed to cloture (or close) the bill to debate, but only 56 senators agreed that it should be passed with the drilling rider.

Later that evening, minus the Arctic drilling, the defense bill passed unanimously, with every senator present voting in the affirmative.

44 Senators Stood Up For the Arctic Refuge:

Max Baucus (D-Mont.)
Evan Bayh (D-Ind.)
Joseph Biden (D-Del.)
Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.)
Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)
Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.)
Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.)
Thomas Carper (D-Del.)
Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.)
Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.)
Kent Conrad (D-N.D.)
Jon Corzine (D-N.J.)
Mark Dayton (D-Minn.)
Mike DeWine (R-Ohio)
Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.)
Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.)
Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
Russ Feingold (D-Wis.)
Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) *
Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
James Jeffords (I-Vt.)
Tim Johnson (D-S.D.)
Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.)
John Kerry (D-Mass.)
Herb Kohl (D-Wis.)
Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.)
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
Carl Levin (D-Mich.)
Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.)
Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.)
Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.)
Patty Murray (D-Wash.)
Bill Nelson (D-Fla.)
Barak Obama (D-Ill)
Mark Pryor (D-Ark.)
Jack Reed (D-R.I.)
Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.)
Ken Salazar (D-Col.)
Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.)
Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)
Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)

* Frist originally supported passage, but once the filibuster was certain, cast a “no” vote for procedural reasons so that he could bring up the drilling issue for another vote.