The Senate voted to allow for drilling in the ANWR today, October 19, 2005. The next step is for the proposal to be voted on by the Senate Budget Committee next week and the full Senate the following week. It will be folded into the much larger budget bill and then signed by president Bush. There are still more major hurdles left to go through. One is that Canada is threatening to do everything it can to block construction of the oil pipeline through their country to the continental US. Reference.