[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 18, 2012)]
[House]
[Page H42]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              KEYSTONE XL

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, before Congress left Washington in December, 
we asked the President a simple question: Will he stop blocking the 
Keystone XL pipeline?
  Congress established laws to govern pipeline approval; the State 
Department published regulations; and typically, approval takes 18 to 
24 months. However, Keystone has been sitting on the shelf for more 
than 40 months now. The President, ignoring standard procedures, 
ordered duplicative environmental reviews that would extend the 
approval process to more than 52 months.
  Is this because Keystone is unprecedented? No. TransCanada has 
already built and operates a pipeline that crosses the U.S. border. 
Additionally, thousands of pipelines already crisscross the proposed 
route.
  The difference is the political pressure brought by extreme 
environmental groups. Politics is blocking tens of thousands of new 
jobs. Politics is blocking a reliable new source of energy. It's time 
to stop letting politics stand in the way of a project that could help 
grow our economy.

                          ____________________