[va-richmond-general] A Holiday Gift for the Arctic

From John Flicker, President of the National Audubon Society:
   "Yesterday the Senate voted to remove Arctic drilling language from the 
Defense Appropriations bill, 56-44. The actual vote was on whether to shut down 
the filibuster to protect the Arctic, for which we needed 40 votes. The list of 
those voting is below.

This is a remarkable achievement and marks the end of a long arduous battle 
this year to protect the Arctic from drilling. Audubon has worked tirelessly 
alongside virtually every other conservation group out there to stop this 
latest series of attacks. After efforts to attach drilling language to the 
Budget Reconcilation bill failed in the House, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) added 
his Arctic plan to the Senate Defense Appropriations bill - a backdoor effort 
to attach controversial legislation to a must-pass bill.

We once again turned to our Senate champions to commit to a filibuster - a 
difficult political ask. Once again Senators Cantwell (D-WA), Leiberman (D-CT), 
Boxer (D-CA), Feinstein (D-CA), Lautenberg (D-NJ), Durbin (D-IL) and Reid 
(D-NV), among others, stepped to the plate and they fought for the Refuge.  
Thirty-four other Democrats and two Republicans, Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) and Mike 
DeWine (R-OH), joined them in defeating the motion to end the filibuster. 

But they didn't to it alone. Grassroots pressure to support the filibuster was 
unrelenting. Senate voice mail boxes filled up and were shut down. Calls and 
email continued to pour in. No stone was left unturned as we looked for people 
who might know senators personally. And it worked.  Thank you for your tireless 
efforts - you believed this special place was worth fighting for and you never 
gave up.

Now the Arctic language has been removed and the Defense bill has passed, as it 
should. The Senate has finally adjourned and we can all have a very special, 
very merry, Happy Holiday!

For every call you made, thank you. For every email, every letter you sent, 
thank you. For every person you persuaded to do the same, thank you. To those 
who met with their elected officials either back home or here in Washington, 
thank you. To those who published letters to the editor or editorials, thank 
you. 

To those who never gave up, thank you!"
Unfortunately, Senator Warner and Senator Allen voted yea. The correct answer 
was nay.

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