[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1938 Engrossed in House (EH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1938

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To direct the President to expedite the consideration and approval of 
the construction and operation of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``North American-Made Energy Security 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds and declares the following:
            (1) The United States currently imports more than half of 
        the oil it consumes, often from countries hostile to United 
        States interests or with political and economic instability 
        that compromises supply security.
            (2) While a significant portion of imports are derived from 
        allies such as Canada and Mexico, the United States remains 
        vulnerable to substantial supply disruptions created by 
        geopolitical tumult in major producing nations.
            (3) Strong increases in oil consumption in the developing 
        world outpace growth in conventional oil supplies, bringing 
        tight market conditions and higher oil prices in periods of 
        global economic expansion or when supplies are threatened.
            (4) The development and delivery of oil and gas from Canada 
        to the United States is in the national interest of the United 
        States in order to secure oil supplies to fill needs that are 
        projected to otherwise be filled by increases in other foreign 
        supplies, notably from the Middle East.
            (5) Continued development of North American energy 
        resources, including Canadian oil, increases domestic refiners' 
        access to stable and reliable sources of crude and improves 
        certainty of fuel supply for the Department of Defense, the 
        largest consumer of petroleum in the United States.
            (6) Canada and the United States have the world's largest 
        two-way trading relationship. Therefore, for every United 
        States dollar spent on products from Canada, including oil, 90 
        cents is returned to the United States economy. When the same 
        metrics are applied to trading relationships with some other 
        major sources of United States crude oil imports, returns are 
        much lower.
            (7) The principal choice for Canadian oil exporters is 
        between moving increasing crude oil volumes to the United 
        States or Asia, led by China. Increased Canadian oil exports to 
        China will result in increased United States crude oil imports 
        from other foreign sources, especially the Middle East.
            (8) Increased Canadian crude oil imports into the United 
        States correspondingly reduce the scale of ``wealth transfers'' 
        to other more distant foreign sources resulting from the 
        greater cost of importing crude oil from those sources.
            (9) Not only are United States companies major investors in 
        Canadian oil sands, but many United States businesses 
        throughout the country benefit from supplying goods and 
        services required for ongoing Canadian oil sands operations and 
        expansion.
            (10) There has been more than 2 years of consideration and 
        a coordinated review by more than a dozen Federal agencies of 
        the technical aspects and of the environmental, social, and 
        economic impacts of the proposed pipeline project known as the 
        Keystone XL from Hardisty, Alberta, to Steele City, Nebraska, 
        and then on to the United States Gulf Coast through Cushing, 
        Oklahoma.
            (11) Keystone XL represents a high capacity pipeline supply 
        option that could meet early as well as long-term market demand 
        for crude oil to United States refineries, and could also 
        potentially bring over 100,000 barrels per day of United States 
        Bakken crudes to market.
            (12) Completion of the Keystone XL pipeline would increase 
        total Keystone pipeline capacity by 700,000 barrels per day to 
        1,290,000 barrels per day.
            (13) The Keystone XL pipeline would provide short-term and 
        long-term employment opportunities and related labor income 
        benefits, as well as government revenues associated with sales 
        and payroll taxes.
            (14) The earliest possible construction of the Keystone XL 
        pipeline will make the extensive proven and potential reserves 
        of Canadian oil available for United States use and increase 
        United States jobs and will therefore serve the national 
        interest.
            (15) Analysis using the Environmental Protection Agency 
        models shows that the Keystone XL pipeline will result in no 
        significant change in total United States or global greenhouse 
        gas emissions.
            (16) The Keystone XL pipeline would be state-of-the-art and 
        have a degree of safety higher than any other typically 
        constructed domestic oil pipeline system.
            (17) Because of the extensive governmental studies already 
        made with respect to the Keystone XL project and the national 
        interest in early delivery of Canadian oil to United States 
        markets, a decision with respect to a Presidential Permit for 
        the Keystone XL pipeline should be promptly issued without 
        further administrative delay or impediment.

SEC. 3. EXPEDITED APPROVAL PROCESS.

    (a) In General.--The President, acting through the Secretary of 
Energy, shall coordinate with each Federal agency responsible for 
coordinating or considering an aspect of the President's National 
Interest Determination and Presidential Permit decision regarding 
construction and operation of the Keystone XL pipeline, to ensure that 
all necessary actions with respect to such decision are taken on an 
expedited schedule.
    (b) Agency Cooperation With Secretary of Energy.--Each Federal 
agency described in subsection (a) shall comply with any deadline 
established by the Secretary of Energy pursuant to subsection (a).
    (c) Final Order.--Not later than 30 days after the issuance of the 
final environmental impact statement, the President shall issue a final 
order granting or denying the Presidential Permit for the Keystone XL 
pipeline, but in no event shall such decision be made later than 
November 1, 2011.
    (d) Environmental Review.--No action by the Secretary of Energy 
pursuant to this section shall affect any duty or responsibility to 
comply with any requirement to conduct environmental review.
    (e) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that the United 
States must decrease its dependence on oil from countries which are 
hostile to the interests of the United States. Canada has long been a 
strong trading partner, and increased access to their energy resources 
will create jobs in the United States.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 26, 2011.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
112th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 1938

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 To direct the President to expedite the consideration and approval of 
the construction and operation of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and for 
                            other purposes.