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Ace, the answer is political. The politicians you are describing would like to be seen doing 'something' about high oil prices - which are painful for constituents - but advocating new drilling would usually offend their and their constituents' environmental sensibilities. The SPR is therefore seen as a safer target, since it doesn't involve opening up wildlife reserves or threatening beaches.
Now that entire chain of reasoning is fairly wrong-headed and reflects a shallow understanding of why we are where we are with regard to oil, but I think it should answer your question as far as 'making sense' of these positions (with which, to be clear, I don't agree).
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