WASHINGTON, July 12 (UPI) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., are reportedly divided on differing versions of a proposed energy bill.
In a conference call with senior lawmakers last month, Reid said Pelosi might be making a mistake by refusing to endorse the energy bill the Senate recently passed and throwing her support behind one House Democrats are drawing up. Sponsors of the House version plan to introduce it in the House this month.
One person who participated in the call told The Hill newspaper that Reid said Pelosi's actions could open the issue up for an intra-party battle. A spokesman for Reid declined to comment.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told the newspaper that Senate leaders had asked Pelosi to support the Senate version -- but he said the fact that she wouldn't did not create any lasting tension.
"I can understand, she wants to try her best to put together a House version of the bill," he said.
"We respect the good work of the Senate, but we will use the House bill
as the basis for our action," a Pelosi aide said.
