[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 16 (Wednesday, February 1, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S234-S237]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, President Obama has said that every morning
when he gets up, he thinks about what he can do to create jobs. Yet
just in the last couple weeks, he turned thumbs down on a project that
would create
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20,000 shovel-ready jobs, the Keystone XL Pipeline, which is a project
that is teed up and ready to go. It would invest $7 billion initially
and create 20,000 jobs immediately. It will address a very important
issue for this country--energy.
We talk about getting away from the dependence on foreign sources of
energy and becoming more energy independent, and we have an opportunity
to do that and, at the same time, create economic opportunity in this
country and get people back to work. It is a mystery as to why the
administration and the President would not find this particular project
to be in America's national interest.
It comes down to whether we are going to continue to import the oil,
the energy we need, from unfriendly nations--we get about 700,000
barrels a day from Venezuela--or whether we will get that oil from a
friendly neighbor such as Canada. When we look at that juxtaposition,
that comparison, and ask should we get that 700,000 barrels of oil from
Hugo Chavez or from Canada, most Americans would say it makes more
sense to do business with our friendly ally to the north. Also, we
would have that come down into this country in a 1,700-mile pipeline,
which would transport that oil to refineries in the United States,
where it would be refined and create jobs there as well.
In almost all respects, as we look at the project and the attributes
that come with it, they are job creation, investment, energy security,
not to mention the State and local tax revenue, which is something that
is important to a lot of people whom I represent in South Dakota. In
fact, I had someone from western South Dakota in my office last week,
and he said: We care about the energy security issue, the jobs issue,
and all that, but we need the tax revenue for our school districts and
county governments that would be generated.
So we have all these positive benefits associated with this
particular project. Yet after having studied it for 3 years, about
1,200 days, and having done multiple environmental impact statements--
the last one concluded in August of last year--lo and behold, the
President decides he is not going to move forward with this project.
We think that is terribly unfortunate, not in the national interest.
We believe it is in the national interest to move forward to address
the important energy security needs, as well as the needs for job
creation and economic growth.
Two of my colleagues, former Governors, now Senators from Nebraska
and North Dakota, are people who are well acquainted with these types
of projects. The Governor from North Dakota was very involved when the
first Keystone Pipeline that was built from Canada through North
Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and points south. That project went
through a permitting process. It was a couple years in the making and
it was approved. The construction process was concluded and it is now
operational. That is an example of how this particular project can
work.
This pipeline would cross the State of the Senator from Nebraska.
There were concerns about whether it had the right route in order for
this to be done in the best environmental way. Those issues have been
addressed. The Nebraska legislature met in special session, and they
and the Governor came up with an alternative idea about how to do this.
They have been supportive of moving forward with this project as well.
The question before the House is if the President of the United
States determines this is not in the national interest, notwithstanding
the support of lots of Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle
and I think overwhelming support of the States through which this line
would traverse and the labor unions which represent a lot of people who
are involved. Many editorial pages support this, including the Chicago
Tribune, which said:
Obama's decision will cost the U.S. jobs. . . . He seems to
think those jobs will still be there when he gets around to
making decision on the pipeline. But they may well be gone
for good.
They go further and say his decision ``will deny the U.S. a reliable
source of oil.''
They recognize the importance of this project and doing business with
a friendly country, the importance of energy independence, and the fact
that if we don't benefit from this, it will go somewhere else. They
have made it abundantly clear this is not something--if the United
States turns it down--they will continue to wait around for until
sometime in the future when we might consider it. They will go
somewhere else--probably China--with it.
For those reasons, we believe we need to do everything we can do to
move this project forward. My colleagues came up with legislation that
recognizes the role of the Congress under the commerce clause and our
ability to approve this project. I hope we will get an opportunity to
discuss and debate this issue in the Senate and get a vote and perhaps
get a vote as well in the House of Representatives, where Congress
could weigh in and perhaps change the President's mind about this
important project.
I am glad to be with my colleagues today. I will yield to the Senator
from North Dakota and the Senator from Nebraska, two great leaders on
this particular issue and all issues relating to energy security. They
understand the history of this, as well as its importance to America's
future.
I ask the Senator from North Dakota if he would like to give us an
insight about the first Keystone Pipeline, built through his State a
few years ago, the history of that, and the history of how this
particular project was put forward as well and why we think it ought to
go forward.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from South Dakota for
organizing the colloquy and I also thank the good Senator from Nebraska
for joining us as well. I appreciate working with them on this project,
which is not only vital to our State but to our country.
As the Senator from South Dakota said, this project is critically
important to our country for a number of reasons. First, it will create
tens of thousands of jobs. There will be a $7 billion investment, not
one penny of which will be Federal Government spending but all private
sector investment. The Perryman Group projected, when they did a study
on the job creation, that it would create 20,000 construction jobs
right away; it would create upward of 100,000 spinoff jobs as they
expand refineries and with the other economic activity that is created.
Some might dispute those job numbers, but any way we look at it, tens
of thousands of jobs will be created by the private sector, which is
why it has strong union support at a time when we have 13-plus million
people out of work and we need the jobs.
As the Senator from South Dakota said, it will generate hundreds of
millions in tax revenues from a growing economy, from more economic
activity. The last I checked, it is pretty important at the local,
State, and Federal levels to have those revenues coming in. In
addition, it will reduce our dependence on oil from the Middle East.
With what is going on in Iran--and they are threatening to blockade the
Strait of Hormuz--and with gas prices at $3.50 a gallon, roughly, and
going up, it is important to consumers and the businesses of this
country that we use the oil in this country and from our closest ally,
Canada, rather than relying on the Middle East.
The third point is, this oil will be produced. If we don't build the
pipeline capacity to bring it to our refineries to be refined, it goes
to China. That is a fact. It will be produced. It will either go to
China or it will come to us.
I have this chart to give a history of the project because, as the
good Senator from South Dakota said, this has been under review for
more than 3 years. TransCanada, the company that is trying to build the
pipeline, built this Keystone Pipeline already. That is this red line
on the chart. That project was approved in 2 years. Again, Keystone XL
has been under study more than 3 years. The sister pipeline has already
been built, and that was approved in 2 years. It comes from Alberta,
Canada, to the refineries in the Patoka, IL, area.
The existing project, as we can see, comes through North Dakota--that
was when I was Governor--through South Dakota, and down through
Nebraska. The Keystone XL comes just to the west. I point that out
because of the Bakken oil play in North Dakota
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and Montana, it is very important we have the ability to put oil into
this pipeline. We are looking at putting 100,000 barrels a day of U.S.
crude into this pipeline so it can get to our refineries. In other
words, it is not just about bringing Canadian crude to our refineries;
it is about bringing our own crude to them. It also saves wear and tear
on our roads, and it is a safety issue because it reduces truck
traffic. We are talking 500 truckloads a day and 17 million truck miles
a year that we don't have to put on our roads. We don't have to have
the traffic issues, the safety issues or the road issues in our country
because we have the ability to move the product with this pipeline.
Let's look at this timeline. September, 2008. I know this is hard to
read. I will make an important point. In September 2008, TransCanada
applied for a permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. In November of 2008,
the current administration was elected. For the entire time the current
administration has been in office, they have held up this project. It
has gone through the full NEPA process. It had the full environmental
impact studies done. Even the State Department said there would be a
decision before the end of last year. For the entire time this
administration has been in office, TransCanada was working to go
through the process with EPA and the Department of State, and the
Department of State said they would have a decision before the end of
last year, but we still don't have a decision. We have to ask why. Why
don't we have a decision? That is what we are talking about. It is long
past time to act.
Let's look at this chart. What are we talking about? What we are
talking about is this--another pipeline. We are talking about another
pipeline just like the one that has already been built. How about the
hundreds or maybe I should say thousands of pipelines we already have,
and somehow we cannot build this pipeline? That doesn't make any sense.
Somebody needs to explain this to us.
We have legislation, with 45 Senators, 45 sponsors, who are saying:
Hey, it is time to move forward and build the project. As a matter of
fact, we are doing everything we can to address any and all problems or
concerns the administration has raised.
That is why I am going to turn it over now to my good colleague from
Nebraska, because when the administration says there is an issue or a
State or the EPA says there is an issue, we stepped up in our
legislation and solved it. We say: Great, let's address it, but let's
move forward for the good of our economy and the good of our country.
I defer now to the good Senator from Nebraska.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Nebraska is
recognized.
Mr. JOHANNS. Mr. President, I appreciate the comments that have been
offered by my colleagues from South Dakota and North Dakota. They
absolutely have it right in terms of the importance of constructing
this pipeline. There is no question that we are in a dire situation in
this Nation. We need the jobs, we need the oil, and this pipeline can
take a significant step forward in both regards.
I think the pipeline will be a huge help in those areas. But let me
start by noting that I was a cosponsor of the first Keystone bill. I am
also a cosponsor of the bill that Senators Hoeven, Lugar, and Vitter
introduced just this past Monday, the bill we are talking about today.
Here is a very important point for my State. In both cases, and
specifically in reference to this bill, the effort was specifically
crafted to safeguard the route selection process that is occurring in
Nebraska. I thank my colleagues for recognizing that work and
recognizing that Nebraska has a process that will near completion this
August or September. They have worked very hard to take into account
our issues, and their bill recognizes that the Nebraska effort will
continue.
They decided in our State--the Governor, the legislature, and
TransCanada--to work on an alternative to the proposed
route. Recognition occurred that the route through Nebraska involved
some very sensitive land--the Sand Hills--and a very sensitive water
supply--the Ogallala aquifer. The Governor called a special session,
and, as we do in Nebraska, everybody sat down and said: How do we solve
this problem?
So they came to an agreement that the best way to solve the problem
was to do an environmental impact statement, which will be no cost to
the Federal Government. It will be paid for by Nebraskans. That was
part of the provision of this agreement. And TransCanada agreed they
would work to reroute the pipeline through our State. Everybody shook
hands. We are now in agreement. Our problem is solved in Nebraska.
For months and months, the Federal Government has been saying to the
State of Nebraska: You have the power to route this pipeline through
your State. And that is exactly what we are doing. So this legislation
recognizes that agreement and says: Great, we are going to allow
Nebraska to move forward. But very wisely this legislation also
recognizes there is no need whatsoever for any delay on the remainder
of this pipeline. This was the only segment--and it is a handful of
miles in our State--that anybody was contesting. So why not issue the
permit? Why not get the project going?
My colleagues worked very hard on coming up with a solution, and
their solution works. It says: Construction can begin immediately. Why?
Because, as my colleague from North Dakota has explained well, Congress
has the constitutional authority to regulate foreign commerce. This
bill exercises that power in a thoughtful, deliberate, and careful way.
It says: Look, this project has gone through 3 years of study and
analysis. It specifically notes in this legislation the part regarding
Nebraska will be solved, as the Federal Government has been saying for
months, by Nebraska officials, but that we can go forward and start
construction elsewhere.
So what is holding up the creation of these jobs? What is holding up
our ability to get more oil from places such as North Dakota and a
friendly ally such as Canada, versus a very unfriendly ally in Hugo
Chavez in Venezuela? What is holding that up? What could possibly be
holding that up? Well, the simple answer to that question is, the
President of the United States is holding it up.
The President is in a bind. The environmentalists have declared war
on the oil sands in Canada. They do not want the pipeline because they
do not want the oil sands. On the other hand, unions want to build the
pipeline. They want the jobs, and thoughtfully so. So this is a time
where Congress does need to step in and exercise our constitutional
powers. This is nothing unusual. In fact, there was a recent opinion by
the Congressional Research Service which noted the Congress has the
power to do exactly what this legislation is doing.
I will wrap up my comments today and yield back the time to the
Senators from South Dakota and North Dakota and say this: This is a
win-win situation for everybody. It is a win because we create jobs. It
is a win for our country because we are trying in every way possible to
get the Federal Government to lessen our dependence on foreign oil.
Maybe the only person who it is not a win for is President Obama in his
reelection. But this is a case where we need to put national interest
ahead of November.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation that was
thoughtfully crafted. It is the right approach. I thank them for their
sensitivity to the process going on in the State of Nebraska.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I appreciate the hard work of the Senator
from Nebraska on this subject, as well as the Senator from North
Dakota, and he has fashioned a solution which I think does give us an
opportunity as a Congress to assert our role under the Constitution,
under the commerce clause of the Constitution, to move this project
forward, notwithstanding the opposition, really of one person--the
President of the United States, who is the person right now who is
standing in the way of this.
I would again say to my colleague from North Dakota, as we wrap up
here, I hear people say this needs to be studied further; that we need
to do more analysis. It is sort of mind-boggling to think after more
than 1,200 days of study, analysis, review, and scrutiny that people
would come to that conclusion. The Keystone XL
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Pipeline I, which the Senator from North Dakota is well acquainted with
because it goes through his State and he was involved in negotiating
that project, took 693 days in the process of getting approved. What is
interesting to me about this particular project is that after 1,200
days--longer than any of the pipelines of this magnitude--the extended
review and more than 10,000 pages of environmental analysis concluded--
concluded--the pipeline will not adversely impact the environment. When
the announcement was made to deny the construction of the pipeline, the
State Department still had 5 weeks to review it if they had chosen to
use it. Clearly, the announcement wasn't based on policy but on
political expediency, which is what the Senator from Nebraska pointed
out.
There is a tremendous amount of resource in my colleague's State--the
State of North Dakota--that could benefit as well. I think the State of
North Dakota has the potential to generate somewhere on the order of
500,000 barrels of oil, about 100,000 of which, I am told, could be
moved through this pipeline if it is approved. It seems to me at least,
again, that here is a resource, an energy reserve in our country, in my
colleague's State, that could benefit people in this country.
By the way, in 2011, Americans spent more on gasoline than any other
year since 1981. And reports indicate that 2012 could be even worse. So
when we look at the economic impact on Americans, from our not having
our oil and energy being produced in this country, it is a very real
impact. In fact, since the President has taken office, gas prices have
gone from $1.84 a gallon to over $3.30 a gallon, and this pipeline
could be part of that solution.
I want to end with a quote made by the State Department in their
review of the pipeline. The Department of Energy, I should say, but it
was part of the State Department's review. The Department of Energy
noted:
Gasoline prices in all markets served by East Coast and
Gulf Coast refineries would decrease, including the Midwest.
That is coming from the State Department's review, the Department of
Energy, that gasoline prices in all markets served by east coast and
gulf coast refineries would decrease. That is a pretty remarkable
economic impact, not to mention all the jobs that would be associated
with the construction, and once it is operational the jobs that would
be created in refining this oil.
So again it is a win-win, as we heard from the Senator from Nebraska,
who said that initially their State had some concerns about the route,
but that has been all resolved so this project can move forward.
The legislation of the Senator from North Dakota, which I am proud to
support and cosponsor, I hope gets a vote in the Senate, and I know the
Senator is going to do everything he can to advance it--I hope he
does--and I look forward to working with him.
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I thank my colleague from South Dakota
again for organizing this colloquy this morning. I thank him and the
esteemed Senator from Nebraska for their support of this legislation.
Again, we have taken a problem-solving approach to this legislation,
and we are continuing to do that. We will continue to work with other
Members of the Senate and our colleagues in the House, but we need the
administration to engage with us on this important issue for the good
of the American people.
Again, I thank my colleague from South Dakota.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, with that, I yield back the remainder of my
time, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
The Senator from Rhode Island is recognized.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I thank the Chair.
(The remarks of Mr. Whitehouse pertaining to the introduction of S.
2059 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, I yield the floor and I suggest the
absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Gillibrand). The clerk will call the
roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________