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But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has ignored calls by Republican leaders for a vote on lifting the drilling bans in Atlantic and Pacific waters, arguing that oil companies already have vast areas available for drilling but have chosen not to do so.

"The president has failed in his economic policy, and now he wants to say, `But for drilling in protected areas offshore, our economy would be thriving and the price of gas would be lower,'" Pelosi said Wednesday. "That hoax is unworthy of the serious debate we must have to relieve the pain of consumers at the pump and to promote energy independence."