Bush calls on Congress to lift offshore drilling ban

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged Congress to lift a decades-old ban on offshore oil drilling to reduce dependence on foreign imports and offset sky-high energy prices.

Calling the federal ban "outdated and counterproductive," Bush asked the Democratic-controlled Congress to take action to expand access to the nation's Outer Continental Shelf.

"Congress must face a hard reality. Unless members are willing to accept gas (gasoline) prices at today's painful levels or even higher, our nation must produce more oil, and we must start now," Bush said in a news conference in the White House Rose Garden.

Faced with a public outcry over soaring gasoline prices, Bush said Congress should lift or modify its ban for the entire outer...