Report Information from ProQuest. February :12

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1 Report Information from ProQuest February :12

2 Table of Contents 1. Senators engage in energy debate... 1 Bibliography February 2013 ii ProQuest

3 Document 1 of 1 Senators engage in energy debate Author: Newton, Ken Publication info: McClatchy - Tribune Business News [Washington] 22 May ProQuest document link Abstract: [...] the Senate votes Tuesday and Wednesday were the 73rd and 74th roll calls of the session. Links: Linking Service Full Text: May 22--With state constituents paying about $1 a gallon more for gasoline than a year ago, it comes as no surprise that Missouri's U.S. senators spent a part of last week in the thick of debate about energy policy. Those same constituents, at least the cynics among them, might also find little surprise that congressional action failed to follow the rhetoric. Sens. Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt backed contrasting bills that would affect oil companies. Votes in the Senate knocked down both measures. In short, nothing changed with American energy. Mr. Blunt, a Republican in the fifth month of his first Senate term, found the week's neitherthis-nor-that stalemate as a discouraging part of life in that chamber. "At least this week we had two votes on legislation," he said in a visit to St. Joseph Friday. "There have been too many weeks when there's not even any legislation to talk about in order to solve these big problems we face." In fact, the Senate votes Tuesday and Wednesday were the 73rd and 74th roll calls of the session. By contrast, the U.S. House has had 329 roll calls this year. Missouri's two senators fell on different sides of the votes. Mr. Blunt supported a bill called the Offshore Production and Safety Act, a measure aimed at authorizing lease sales along the Outer Continental Shelf and, according to the senator, injecting "more supply in the marketplace." Senators rejected the "motion to proceed" (essentially a test vote) by a 42 to 57 margin on Wednesday. In the same sort of procedural vote, the Democratic Ms. McCaskill saw the measure she sponsored, the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act, stopped on a 52 to 42 tally on Tuesday, a majority but needing three-fifths of the senators for passage. Her bill would have repealed various royalties, tax deductions and depletion allowances granted to oil companies, which have shown massive corporate profits at a time of escalating pump prices. Both votes carried degrees of serious intent and situational politics. Democratic proponents framed the loophole-closing act as a deficit-reduction measure, putting Republicans in a position to vote against a core issue. "You should not get this extra help in the tax code that allows you to avoid taxes," Ms. McCaskill said on the Senate floor. "It is real money that will come to our bottom line as it relates to our deficit." On the latter vote, the Republican proposal to expand offshore drilling made Democrats appear to oppose increased oil supplies, greater energy independence and more domestic jobs. "If we fully pursue our own resources," Mr. Blunt said in a floor speech, "that does have an impact on the short-term response of the industry because they know America is going after its resources." Outside the chamber, Ms. McCaskill also sought a Federal Trade Commission investigation of possible market manipulation by U.S. oil refiners. In her letter to FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz, Ms. McCaskill asked for an investigation to look into shrinking gas inventories and rising margins for refiners at a time of declining fuel use. "The idea that refiners may be manipulating the market to keep prices artificially high is offensive," she wrote. Ken Newton can be reached at ken.newton@newspressnow.com. Credit: St. Joseph News-Press, Mo. Subject: Offshore drilling; Congressional investigations; Petroleum industry; Bills Location: United States--US People: McCaskill, Claire, Blunt, Roy D Publication title: McClatchy - Tribune Business News 08 February 2013 Page 1 of 3 ProQuest

4 Publication year: 2011 Publication date: May 22, 2011 Year: 2011 Publisher: McClatchy - Tribune Information Services Place of publication: Washington Country of publication: United States Journal subject: Business And Economics Source type: Wire Feeds Language of publication: English Document type: News ProQuest document ID: Document URL: Copyright: To see more of the St. Joseph News-Press or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to Copyright (c) 2011, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo. Distributed by McClatchy- Tribune; Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit Last updated: Database: ProQuest Central,Business Dateline,ProQuest Central,ABI/INFORM Complete,ProQuest Newsstand 08 February 2013 Page 2 of 3 ProQuest

5 Bibliography Citation style: APA 6th - American Psychological Association, 6th Edition Newton, K. (2011, May 22). Senators engage in energy debate. McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved from 8&rfr_id=info:sid/ProQ%3Abusinessdateline&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitl +Tribune+Business+News&rft.atitle=Senators+engage+in+energy+debate&rft.au=Newton%2C+Ken&rft.aulast= e=mcclatchy+- Newton&rft.aufirst=Ken&rft.date= &rft.volume=&rft.issue=&rft.spage=&rft.isbn=&rft.btitle=&rft.title=McClatchy+- +Tribune+Business+News&rft.issn= Contact ProQuest Copyright 2012 ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. - Terms and Conditions 08 February 2013 Page 3 of 3 ProQuest