U.S. House and Senate Reject Bush's Oil Policy

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to stop adding oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve until crude prices fall below $75 a barrel, repudiating the Bush administration's policy of boosting the stockpile at a time of record fuel costs.

The Senate voted 97 to 1 to suspend oil deliveries to the emergency oil reserve, after most Republicans abandoned the president on the issue. The plan was tacked on to a flood insurance reform bill that passed 92 to 6, enough to override a presidential veto.

"Instead of hiding barrels of oil in the nearly full Strategic Petroleum Reserve, we want to put them on the market to increase supply and lower prices," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

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The House of Representatives on Tuesday followed the Senate in rejecting the Bush administration's policy of adding oil to the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve while fuel prices are high. The House passed legislation that would suspend crude deliveries to the U.S. emergency oil stockpile while the price of oil was above $75 a barrel, a move the White House has opposed. Oil traded at a record near $126 a barrel on Tuesday.

Americans have bombarded their lawmakers with complaints about gasoline costs, which hit a record $3.72 a gallon at the pump this week. Lawmakers hope diverting the reserve's oil shipments to the market will provide consumers some relief.

Rep. John Dingell, Democratic chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said stopping deliveries to the reserve might "prick the speculative bubble" in energy prices.

The Bush administration opposes the move, saying suspending oil shipments would do little to cut oil prices which reached a record near $127 a barrel on Tuesday.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said the president's advisors have not recommended a veto of the bill at this time. "We'll watch how this progresses through Congress," he said.