[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1938 Introduced in House (IH)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1938
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 23, 2011
Mr. Terry (for himself, Mr. Ross of Arkansas, Mr. Upton, Mr. Whitfield,
Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mrs. McMorris Rodgers, Mr.
Walden, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Scalise, Mrs. Myrick, Mr. Pitts,
and Mr. Murphy of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and
in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce and Natural
Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
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.
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