Yesterday, a Wall Street Journal editorial asserted that a majority of the Senate supports drilling in ANWR and suggested that Sen. Daschle would soften his opposition to drilling in ANWR to advance his ethanol provision in the energy bill. Neither is true, and we wanted you to be aware of Senator Daschle's response to the Wall Street Journal. It was submitted yesterday and appears below. September 25, 2003 Editorial Page Editor New York, NY Dear Editor, Your September 25 editorial on the energy bill now pending in Congress includes some glaring untruths. You state that "Alaskan drilling already has majority support in the Senate." Yet the proposal to drill for oil in the Alaska wildlife refuge received only 48 votes when the Senate last voted on the question in March of this year, and drilling proponents mustered even fewer votes on other recent occasions. You also suggest that I would abandon my opposition to drilling in the wildlife refuge in order to advance the energy bill's ethanol provision, which is supported by more than two-thirds of the Senate and President Bush. I never will make that trade, and I am confident that the ethanol provision will become law this Congress, either in the energy bill or on its own merit. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. The Journal's editorial page should consider a fresh new approach and respect the difference between the former and the latter. Sincerely, Tom Daschle U.S. Senator from South Dakota