Democrats charged that the commission of eight Republicans and eight Democrats was created to give Bush political cover with a predetermined outcome and a bipartisan label.
Oil companies favor drilling in the refuge while environmentalists want to preserve it untouched.
Bush's panel is the eighth special council created in the past 20 years to study Social Security. Only one resulted in any major changes. Bush said he wants his to be different, to make good on his campaign pledge to allow voluntary private investment accounts. The makeup of the Social Security commission was by design, said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. The president wants to break that pattern this year.