Murkowski vows ANWR victory

In her annual address to the Legislature, the Alaska Republican said ANWR will be reconsidered again this year, perhaps as a budget reconciliation bill.

"As Senator (Ted) Stevens has said, it's not over until we win," she said.

The U.S. Senate blocked opening the nation's largest untapped oil reserve last December, denying President Bush his top energy priority and delivering a victory to environmentalists who said drilling would threaten wildlife.

It was a major defeat for Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who had hoped to garner more votes by attaching the measure to a defense spending bill.

In a press conference after her speech, Murkowski said ANWR drilling will be taken up the first week of March in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources as part of the committee's budget recommendations.

Murkowski said it was important to push ANWR through while it has the support of the president and majorities in the House and Senate.

The trick, she said, is "finding the right way to do it."

Asked whether she had identified a vehicle for the measure, Murkowski laughed and said, "Yes, but I can't tell you."

Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-New Mexico, has suggested using a reconciliation bill pared down to include just ANWR, she said.

"But recognizing that it's a pretty fluid process in the Senate, we keep our eyes open for opportunities and discuss with our colleagues and the leadership as to how we might best advance it," she said.

Murkowski also told lawmakers she was working to restore money for the Village Safe Water Program, which was slashed by 75 percent in the president's budget.

Murkowski said studies have shown that children are more likely to contract respiratory illnesses in villages that lack water service and plumbing.

Under the program, she said, the percentage of rural homes with running water and sewer has increased from 51 percent in 1995 to 77 percent in 2004.