[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 191 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8499-S8500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              JOB CREATION

  Mr. TESTER. Madam President, I rise today to talk about jobs and 
politics.
  There are a lot of folks in Washington who pay lipservice to jobs and 
a lot of people that are playing politics.

[[Page S8500]]

But it sure doesn't seem that many folks are interested in doing the 
hard job of creating jobs.
  Folks all over Montana have been asking for good-paying, liveable-
wage jobs, the kind of jobs that can't be outsourced, jobs that put 
folks to work in our forests, jobs that build the energy infrastructure 
this country needs. Right now there are two proposals that will do just 
that.
  First, I would like to talk about my Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. 
This bill will stabilize the wood products industry in Montana by 
ensuring a dependable timber supply that will give certainty to loggers 
in the woods and workers in the mills.
  This bill will allow for the restoration of 100,000 acres of national 
forest lands in Montana, reducing the chances of out-of-control forest 
fires that could devastate our communities, our watersheds, and our way 
of life.

  Recent data released by the Forest Service shows that wildfires that 
burn where the trees were thinned were less expensive to fight, they 
were easier to control, and did less structural damage to neighboring 
buildings.
  This bill also puts people to work by rolling up roads, improving our 
water quality, and protecting big game habitat. It protects nearly 1 
million acres for our children and grandchildren in wilderness and 
recreation areas.
  This is a bipartisan solution, supported by industry and 
conservationists. It is the product of people who were on polar 
opposites of the issue who came together to find solutions for how we 
can manage our forests better. We could take a lesson from their 
example. They brought those solutions to me to be put into law. This is 
a bill that will move the country in the right direction with a 
responsible balanced solution, and it will create jobs.
  But rather than getting this bill passed, it has become a political 
football in the appropriations process. Some House Republicans seem to 
be more concerned with their own job rather than creating Montana jobs 
by passing my Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. That isn't fair to 
Montanans who are anxious to get back to work, to reclaim a life that 
has been disappearing in a rapid rate. We lost over 1,700 jobs in the 
timber industry in 2009, more last year, and still more this year.
  I would ask folks who are negotiating this final deal right now to 
think about the folks who are counting on us to set politics aside and 
do what is right for our country and for Montana.
  This same logic applies to the Keystone XL Pipeline. Right now, the 
President has the power to create jobs by approving this pipeline. He 
could make the decision to approve this pipeline in the very near 
future.
  Now, let me be clear. He should do it right. Doing it right means 
approving this pipeline while respecting private property rights. I 
support the pipeline. But I will never support any corporation--much 
less a foreign corporation--given the right to take away property from 
Montanans or any other American without a fair deal that is negotiated 
in good faith.
  Doing it right also means ensuring that the highest possible safety 
standards are followed throughout Montana and rural America. I do not 
believe we should have to wait until January of 2013 for a decision 
that can create American jobs right now. In Montana, we need the jobs. 
We need the ability to provide incentives to boost production in places 
where it makes the most sense, such as the Bakken formation in eastern 
Montana.
  Now, many folks don't know that the Keystone Pipeline will actually 
include an onramp in Baker, MT. That onramp will tap into the booming 
Bakken formation, and it will ensure that we are getting the most out 
of American energy resources. That matters to our economy and it 
matters to our energy and national security. The Keystone XL pipeline 
will transport North American oil and will help move this country away 
from spending billions of dollars per day in Middle Eastern countries 
that do not like us very much.

  At the same time, I am concerned about the way folks on both sides of 
this issue are handling it right now. We do not need to entangle this 
issue with a payroll tax in the House bill that would add more than $25 
billion to our debt and that would cut Medicare benefits.
  It is time to quit playing politics and start doing what is right, 
whether it is the Forest Jobs Act or the Keystone pipeline. It is time 
to move forward, working together to create jobs in this country.
  Instead, politicians on both sides are using these important items as 
political footballs and that is too bad. We should be acting 
responsibly to create jobs with this pipeline and to put folks back to 
work in the woods with my bill. Instead, we are watching political 
maneuvering designed to score points rather than create jobs. We all 
know this is how Washington acts. The people who lose are the hard-
working Americans and Montanans who want to get back to work. They want 
to build and maintain the infrastructure that powers and protects 
America.
  I am proud to again offer my support for the Keystone XL pipeline and 
the jobs it will create. We need a quicker decision based on the merits 
of the project. After setting aside their differences and working 
together to protect our forests, Montanans also deserve the passage of 
the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act. Instead of irresponsible partisan 
fights, it is time that Congress finally takes a page from those who 
constructed the forest jobs bill. They set aside nearly 30 years of 
partisan bickering to find solutions where everyone gives a little and 
gains a lot. It is the right way to do it.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent I be permitted 
to engage in a colloquy with my colleagues for the remainder of the 
Democratic time in morning business.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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