There's precedent for the House passing the Senate bill

A reader sends along this bit of history:

In 1979 the House again passed a very strong bill, but the Senate committee approved a less desirable version, giving weaker protection to smaller areas. [For example, this version left the 1.5-million-acre Arctic coastal plain open to the possibility of oil drilling.] When Carter and the Alaska Coalition won the first of a projected series of Senate floor votes on amendments to strengthen and expand the inadequate committee bill, Senate leaders pulled the bill from further floor action. Instead, they convened behind-closed-door negotiations dominated by the Alaska delegation.

The Senate-passed bill that resulted was still unsatisfactory to conservationists, who worked with Reps. Udall and Seiberling to prepare a much stronger substitute version they hoped to have the House adopt when it received the Senate-passed bill. However, the 1980 election intervened and Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter. It was obvious that Reagan would side with opponents of the Alaska Lands bill. So, the House leaders, conservationist coalition and Carter had no real choice but to accept the weaker — but still historic — Senate version.