Bush urges Congress to end ban on offshore drilling
President George W. Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to end a federal ban on offshore oil drilling and open a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration, asserting that those steps and others would lower gasoline prices and ``strengthen our national security.''
President Bush plans to lift the presidential ban on offshore drilling, a significant step toward a policy that could plant oil or natural gas drilling rigs off the coast of North Carolina.