Looking for a political win to tout during the August recess, House Democratic leaders narrowly pushed through oil-spill response legislation Friday after making concessions to secure the support of their party's moderates.

Lawmakers passed the measure, H.R. 3534, by a vote of 209-193 after Democratic leaders launched a last-minute frenzy to whip up votes from moderate and oil-state Democrats, who largely opposed the measure because of proposals they say would create unnecessary new barriers to domestic oil and gas production.

More than three dozen Democrats joined Republicans in voting against the measure. Two Republicans, Reps. Vernon Ehlers of Michigan and Tim Johnson of Illinois, supported the legislation.

Despite the House win, the promised changes may be slow in coming because a similar measure seems stalled in the Senate. And the controversial provisions would likely see even stronger resistance in the Senate if it does consider the measure this week (see related story).

The House measure would formally reorganize the beleaguered federal agency that oversees offshore oil and gas drilling, beef up offshore worker and environmental safety standards, and impose new ethics standards on federal drilling regulators.

It also would create a restoration program to coordinate efforts to rehabilitate the Gulf of Mexico, create a new industry-funded endowment to protect oceans and boost the Land and Water Conservation Fund, among other provisions. A separate measure (H.R. 5851) passed Friday would extend whistleblower protections to offshore oil and gas workers.

But language that would eliminate liability limits on companies drilling offshore and impose new fees on onshore and offshore production was staunchly opposed by "oil patch" Democrats and Republicans.

"I'm concerned about the breadth of the bill," Rep. Zack Space, a moderate Democrat from Ohio, said before Friday's vote. "I think we all agree we need to do something to prevent mistakes like the Deepwater Horizon from happening again, but not at the expense of compromising our energy policy altogether."

Space voted against the measure.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other Democratic leaders were able to drum up enough support from other moderate Democrats to achieve the narrow victory. Pelosi, who often serves as her own chief whip on key votes, stalked the House floor Friday afternoon with tally sheet in hand, approaching Blue Dog and centrist Democrats, many of whom later voted in support of the measure.

Democratic leaders also attempted to sway support with an amendment that would lift the Obama administration's deepwater drilling moratorium. That measure from Reps. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) and Travis Childers (D-Miss.) would end the drilling ban for companies that are able to show they are meeting stricter safety requirements.

In the minutes before the final vote, Melancon stood talking with Pelosi when Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), a primary opponent of offshore drilling, threw her arm around Melancon's shoulder and gave him a hug. Melancon hugged her back.

Opponents of the bill laughed away the measure, saying it would not do enough to restore the Gulf Coast's embattled energy-driven economy. Critics are concerned with language in the amendment they say would give greater authority to the Interior secretary.

"As it is written, this language would grant the secretary the authority to 'make a determination on whether to issue' a permit," Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said. "We believe a better structuring of this section should read that if an applicant complies ... the secretary 'shall issue' the permit."

Industry too scoffed at the language. The National Ocean Industries Association said it "not only misses the mark, but the entire target."

"The House has lost a golden opportunity to pass a clean lifting of the job-killing moratorium," Burt Adams, NOIA's chairman, said in a statement. Republicans had offered up a motion to recommit the bill that would have lifted the ban outright. But lawmakers voted down that motion with a much wider margin than the final bill.

Political fallout

The American Petroleum Institute, Independent Petroleum Association of America and U.S. Chamber of Commerce all opposed parts of the legislation as well.

But Democrats, environmentalists and public lands advocates praised the bill's passage.

"As the devastating effects of the BP oil spill show, offshore oil production can itself be a major threat to our nation's already-limited inventory of natural resources," William Meadows, president of the Wilderness Society, said in a statement. "It's only fair to make oil companies pay for the damages they do to our natural resources and provide a fair environmental return to the public."

House lawmakers, who left Washington after Friday evening's vote for a six-week recess, are already trading political jabs over the legislation.

"These measures were a test of whether members of Congress stand with taxpayers and the Gulf communities, or with the oil companies," Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said after Friday's vote. "Republicans' votes against these bills make their choice very clear."

Republicans counter that the bill will raise taxes and cut jobs.

"It's real disappointing that the Democrats are playing politics with this bill when in fact they should have been working to try to help us on the coast because their bill raises $22 billion in new taxes on American oil, doesn't raise any taxes on foreign oil, so now they've made our country more dependent on foreign oil; they're going to run thousands more jobs out of the country," Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) said. "And so ultimately, their bill helps OPEC more than it helps the Gulf Coast."

Reporters Robin Bravender, Mike Soraghan, Allison Winter and Josh Voorhees contributed.