(Adds comments from lawmaker, background on moratorium,
additional steps needed to end it, paragraphs 3-6)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of
Representatives Friday voted to end the federal moratorium
on deepwater drilling for oil companies that meet new federal
safety requirements.

The proposal to end the moratorium was an amendment to a
pending energy bill the House was poised to vote on.

The moratorium will not end unless the Senate also votes to
terminate it and President Barack Obama signs the legislation
into law. The fate of the proposal in the Senate is uncertain.

The Obama administration imposed the six-month moratorium
on exploratory drilling in waters more than 500 feet deep in
response to the BP oil spill. The moratorium
runs through the end of November.

"An indiscriminate blanket moratorium punishes the innocent
along with the guilty for the actions of the poor judgment of
one reckless company," said Rep. Charlie Melancon, a Louisiana
Democrat who co-sponsored the amendment.

"If a rig meets all the tough new safety requirements issued
by the Department of Interior, if it has been fully inspected
and deemed safe, why should it sit idle? And the workers of
that rig, why should they go jobless until the arbitrary
six-month period is over?" he said.
(Reporting by Tom Doggett and Richard Cowa; Editing by David
Gregorio)