U.S. President George W. Bush Wednesday urged Congress to lift legislative restrictions on offshore oil drilling to help address rising fuel costs.

"The time for action is now. This is a difficult period for millions of American families," Bush told reporters at White House.

"The American people are rightly frustrated by the failure of Democratic leaders in Congress to enact common-sense solutions like the development of the oil resources on the outer continental shelf," Bush noted.

There are two prohibitions on offshore drilling, one imposed by Congress and another by executive order signed by former President George H. W. Bush in 1990.

Bush, in his final months of office, has lifted the executive ban and repeatedly urged the Democrats-dominant Congress to lift legislative restrictions on such activity before they begin a recess in August.

The U.S. economy suffers from gasoline prices hike that has reached over 4 U.S. dollars a gallon (3.785 liter), and U.S. Congress and the White House are stressing different ways to ease the oil crisis.

The White House insisted that increase in U.S. oil drilling will help to deal the soaring gas prices.

However, many Democrats in the Congress refused to lift the drilling ban, noting oil companies already have 68 million acres under government leases they can drill and any new oil from now-closed offshore areas would not be available for five to 10 years.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has renewed her request to President Bush for more government-held oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to be released onto the market to check prices, which has been always resisted by the president.

"Right now the president has 700 million barrels of oil. He can release a small percent of it, less than 10 percent of it; have immediate impact on the price at the pump now, within 10 days, not within 10 years," Pelosi said.

Editor: Yan