[This Is A Rush Transcript. This Copy May Not Be In Its Final Form And May Be Updated. Carol Lin, Cnn Anchor:] The president should feel pretty good this morning. Major Garrett is at the White House. Morning, Major, so far it looks like smoother sailing for his agenda on Capitol Hill.
[Major Garrett, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Finishing with a flourish is the way they like to talk about this week here at the White House, Carol. A big vote in the House of Representatives yesterday, okaying a good portion of the president's comprehensive national energy plan. Among the provisions okayed by the House, drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, by far the most controversial and most publicly known part of the Bush energy plan. This would allow for drilling on about 2,000 acres of the 1.5 million- acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It was the topic of heated debate on the House floor yesterday. Representative Billy Tauzin, a Republican from Louisiana, and David Bonior, a Democrat from Michigan, squared off on that issue.
[Rep. Billy Tauzin , Louisiana:] And some of you come to the well of this house and say don't drill in my backyard, don't explore for energy off my coast, don't explore for energy in the offshore off my state, but I'm amazed at you when you show up on the floor and say don't do it in somebody else's state when they want to do it. Don't do it on areas that were set aside to be protected areas. Don't do it in areas that are rich in natural resources that this country is starving for and we send our young men and women to battle to fight over it, to die for us so we can have some energy to power our cars.
[Rep. David Bonior , Michigan:] I have been to this refuge. I have stood on the banks of the Aichilik River. I have watched the caribou thundering across the horizon. I have seen the grayling running in the streams and the rivers. I have listened to the wolves howl at night and I have hiked this wondrous tundra knowing that even though I didn't see a grizzly bear, they certainly were watching me. This, my friends, is no ordinary land. This is a cathedral of nature. It's an American inheritance and it's our responsibility to protect it.
[Garrett:] A part of that House of Representatives debate was the fact that this energy proposal did not do enough in the eyes of some to emphasize conservation. There was one small move the House agreed to take on the question of gas mileage efficiency for large gas guzzling vehicles like sport utility vehicles. What the House agreed to is require those vehicles to save five billion gallons more than they do now, making them slightly more energy efficient. But there were more stringent efforts to make them even more efficient that were defeated in the House. Now the bill moves on to the Senate where it's future is much cloudier indeed Carol.
[Lin:] Major, and it's not a done deal for the patients' bill of rights yet is it?
[Garrett:] Not quite a done deal, but the White House feels very good that either today or tomorrow the House of Representatives will, in fact, endorse and support a patients' bill of rights the president of the United States, President Bush, can sign. The president reached an agreement yesterday with a key Republican, Charlie Norwood of Georgia, working out some of the last remaining details on the question of how patients can sue their HMO if, in fact, they are harmed by a decision that HMO makes either to delay or deny care. That was a crucial breakthrough for the White House. They predict a House victory. The White House very much looking forward to that today or tomorrow Carol.
[Lin:] All right, we'll see what happens in the Senate. Thanks so much, Major Garrett, live from the White House this morning. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com