Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R.-Texas), chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, and Sen. Jim DeMint (R.-S.C.), chairman of the Senate Steering Committee, have announced a bicameral effort to protect American Energy Freedom Day on October 1, 2008. On that day, the current prohibitions on energy leasing on most of the Outer Continental Shelf and on oil shale leasing on federal lands will expire -- unless the Democrat-controlled Congress proactively acts to extend them. As of today, only 16 days remain until Americans are able to access our own energy supply.