WASHINGTON — After nearly three months of negotiations and deal-making, Congress is giving up on energy legislation for this year, falling two Senate votes short of sending a bill to President Bush.
Republican leaders vowed to return to the $31 billion measure early next year.
The Senate abandoned the legislation late Monday after it became clear a dispute over a gasoline additive, MTBE, was not going to be resolved and efforts to find two additional Senate votes needed to overcome a filibuster by opponents would not bear fruit.
There was not enough time before the Senate’s scheduled Thanksgiving recess to reach a compromise that would be accepted in both the chambers of Congress, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., concluded. Senators were expected to begin leaving town Tuesday and not return until January.
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