House Democrats offered their answer to the oil drilling debate on Thursday, but the bill failed to get the two-thirds vote it required to move ahead. The Drill Responsibly in Leased Lands Act, cosponsored by Rep. Tim Walz, would create a "use it or lose it" policy for oil companies leasing government lands — they have to drill on current land in order to lease newly opened lands — and would prohibit the exporting of Alaskan oil to countries other than the United States.

The vote on the bill failed to get a two-thirds majority at a vote of  244-173 (roll call). Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad joined Democratic Reps. Walz, Ellison, McCollum, and Oberstar in voting for the measure. Bachmann and Kline voted against it.

"Oil companies are leasing 68 million acres of federal land that are just sitting idle," Walz said in a statement after the vote today. "The DRILL Act makes it clear to Big Oil that when it comes to leases, they need to use it or lose it.  Just yesterday, the Department of the Interior made 2.6 million acres of potentially oil-rich territory in northern Alaska  available for energy exploration." Walz continued. "I applaud this move because it will open up much of the northeast section of the Northeast National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, which holds an estimated 3.7 billion barrels of oil."

Bachmann, who has said that opening more domestic lands for drilling, including the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge,  would result in $2 a gallon gas, called the Democratic plan called the bill a "sham." Bachmann has a plan to get to $2 a gallon gas, a plan which her primary opponent, Republican Aubrey Immelman, called a "pipe dream," and her DFL challenger El Tinklenberg called "false promises."