Bush Will Lift Ban on Offshore Drilling

President Bush is about to lift the ban on offshore drilling that's stood since his father was in office, White House press secretary Dana Perino announced today. The move will be meaningless unless Congress follows suit, the AP reports. Two bans on the practice are in place: an executive order signed by Bush 41 and a law enacted by Congress.

Unless Congress agrees to repeal the legislative ban, no one is drilling. So far Congressional Democrats have shown no inclinations to do that, despite repeated White House urgings. "They haven't even held a single hearing," Perino said. "So we are going to move forward, and hopefully that will spur action by the Congress." (More George W. Bush stories.)