Congressional
ORG
Congressional Congress
 Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, have begun their own assault on the Interior Department's management of the program. At issue is a program that Congress began in 1996, when both Democrats and Republicans wanted to encourage more exploration and production in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Oil and gas executives plan to argue that Congress wanted royalty relief to be automatic, regardless of how high prices might climb, for all leases awarded between 1996 and 2000. Congressional Democrats, have begun their own assault on the Interior Department's management of the program.