Under the leadership of House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) 18 moderate GOP members (including Reps. Charles Bass (R-NH) and Nancy Johnson (R-CT)), sent a letter endorsing the Senate version of the offshore drilling bill, during the lame duck session. In the letter, Boehlert cited the Nov. 7 election results as a call for "pragmatic, targeted approaches to solving problems rather than ideological sparring." The Senate bill (S. 3711) limits offshore drilling to 8.3 million acres in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, while the House approach (H.R. 4761) could open the entire U.S. coastline to oil drilling. The two chambers have been in a stand-off for months, with Senate leaders arguing that they cannot expand the bill further due to a filibuster threat from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). House leaders so far have held out for a compromise that would open up additional territory on the East Coast.