OUR REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT:

A group of Senate Democrats from the Northeast is pushing back on the Obama administration's proposal to open new areas of the Atlantic Ocean to oil and gas drilling.

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker called the move "absolutely unacceptable" in a press conference Tuesday afternoon. Joining in the press conference were fellow Democrats Ed Markey (Mass.), Robert Menendez (N.J.) and Ben Cardin (Md.).

"If drilling is allowed off the east coast of the United States, it puts our beaches, our fisherman, and our environment in the crosshairs for an oil spill that could devastate our shores," said Markey. "We're going to make it clear we're very unhappy with this plan...You're looking at the beginning of an alliance to put pressure on this administration to withdraw this proposal."

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