Bush Lifts Presidential Ban on Offshore Drilling WHITE HOUSE (Associated Press) -

President Bush has lifted an executive ban on offshore drilling -- and he's trying to pressure Congress to do the same.

Otherwise, Bush's action won't have any effect.

In a statement in the Rose Garden today, Bush said Congress is all that's "standing between the American people and these vast oil resources." He said, "Failure to act is unacceptable."

Democrats, and some GOP lawmakers from coastal states, have opposed lifting the prohibition, which keeps energy companies away from waters along the East and West coasts, and the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Senate Environment Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer of California says Bush's proposal is "something you'd expect from an oil company CEO."
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