[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 22, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H2852-H2862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 3, NORTHERN ROUTE APPROVAL ACT
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, by direction of the Committee on
Rules, I call up House Resolution 228 and ask for its immediate
consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 228
Resolved, That at any time after the adoption of this
resolution the Speaker may, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule
XVIII, declare the House resolved into the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of
the bill (H.R. 3) to approve the construction, operation, and
maintenance of the Keystone XL pipeline, and for other
purposes. The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed
with. All points of order against consideration of the bill
are waived. General debate shall be confined to the bill and
shall not exceed 90 minutes equally divided among and
controlled by the respective chairs and ranking minority
members of the Committees on Transportation and
Infrastructure, Energy and Commerce, and Natural Resources.
After general debate the bill shall be considered for
amendment under the five-minute rule. In lieu of the
amendments in the nature of a substitute recommended by the
Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, Energy and
Commerce, and Natural Resources now printed in the bill, it
shall be in order to consider as an original bill for the
purpose of amendment under the five-minute rule an amendment
in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules
Committee Print 113-11. That amendment in the nature of a
substitute shall be considered as read. All points of order
against that amendment in the nature of a substitute are
waived. No amendment to that amendment in the nature of a
substitute shall be in order except those printed in the
report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this
resolution. Each such amendment may be offered only in the
order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member
designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall
be debatable for the time specified in the report equally
divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent,
shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject
to a demand for division of the question in the House or in
the Committee of the Whole. All points of order against such
amendments are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of
the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report
the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been
adopted. Any Member may demand a separate vote in the House
on any amendment adopted in the Committee of the Whole to the
bill or to the amendment in the nature of a substitute made
in order as original text. The previous question shall be
considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to
final passage without intervening motion except one motion to
recommit with or without instructions.
{time} 1240
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida is recognized for
1 hour.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. For the purpose of debate only, I yield the
customary 30 minutes to my colleague on the Rules Committee, the
gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Polis), pending which I yield myself such
time as I
[[Page H2853]]
may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded
is for the purpose of debate only.
General Leave
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Florida?
There was no objection.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this
rule and the underlying bill.
House Resolution 228 provides a structured rule for consideration of
H.R. 3, the Northern Route Approval Act. The rule makes 10 of the 25
amendments submitted to the Rules Committee in order, nine of which
were sponsored by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, and it
provides for a robust debate in the House of Representatives.
The underlying bill was marked up by three committees of
jurisdiction, and each committee reported the bill favorably with a
bipartisan vote.
Additionally, the U.S. Senate, on March 22, 2013, voted to approve
the pipeline by a vote of 62-37.
Mr. Speaker, there are four simple reasons this bill has garnered
bipartisan support: it creates American jobs; it increases our energy
independence; it strengthens our national security; and it will
contribute to lower gas prices.
This bill leads where the President has wavered, and finally approves
the northern route of the Keystone XL pipeline, which has been studied
for over 1,700 days by 10 Federal agencies and several State
environmental agencies.
The U.S. Department of State has issued four environmental impact
statements, at a total length of 15,500 pages. These studies prove that
the vast majority of the project will not result in a significant
environmental impact, and mitigation efforts will be undertaken to
reduce any environmental impact.
Additionally, the project includes 57 project-specific special
conditions to ensure the maximum level of safety. Due to these
conditions, the U.S. State Department's Environmental Impact Statement
found that the pipeline will have ``a degree of safety over any other
typically constructed domestic oil pipeline system.''
For 4 long years, multiple studies and well over 15,000 pages of
environmental analysis, the administration claims that the XL pipeline
still cannot be approved. We all hear the echo of the President chiding
Congress with his slogan, ``We can't wait.''
I would like to ask, Mr. Speaker, if not now, when?
This bill answers that question, and the answer is today. It is clear
that this pipeline will create jobs, increase national security, and
contribute to lower gas prices. For this reason, H.R. 3 breaks the
Presidential logjam and approves this worthwhile project.
On December 23, 2011, both the U.S. House and the Senate unanimously
approved, and the President signed into law, a bill that required the
President to approve the pipeline unless the President determined that
the project did not serve national interests.
On January 18, 2012, the President said ``no'' to the pipeline,
claiming that it did not serve national interests.
By preventing this project from moving forward, he said ``no'' to
42,100 construction and manufacturing jobs at a time when Americans
need work. He said ``no'' to cheaper gas prices for goods and services
which could result in reduced energy cost.
As you know, Mr. Speaker, lower energy costs lead to lower
manufacturing and shipping costs which, in turn, contribute to less
grocery, gas and utility bills for the average American family.
He said ``no'' to increased diversification of America's oil supply.
He said ``no'' to reduced dependence on foreign oil. All these benefits
this generation could pass on to future generations.
By this inaction, the President said ``yes'' to more oil from barges
from the Middle East. When the pipeline is finalized, it will transfer
830,000 barrels of oil each day, which totals nearly half of our
current daily imports from the Middle East.
The President said ``yes'' to our ally, Canada, taking its business
elsewhere, to China, rather than the United States. The oil from the
tar sands of Canada will go on the market somewhere, whether we approve
the XL pipeline or not. This is our chance to ensure Americans will
have the opportunity to benefit from the energy supply, not China.
The State Department acknowledged that the United States would be
more secure if we relied more heavily on a non-OPEC source, such as
Canada, for our energy needs.
According to the State Department, and I quote:
Non-OPEC Canadian crude oil supplies advance the energy
security of the United States, given Canada's close
proximity, our free trade agreements, and our close bilateral
relationship with a stable democracy.
Canada is a more reliable and cost-efficient source of energy than
the foreign oil that we depend on from the Middle East, Africa, and
other regions of the world.
For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and
the underlying legislation. The relevant committees of jurisdiction
have provided us with a bipartisan bill that will create American jobs,
ensure energy independence, increase our national security, and
contribute to the lower gas prices.
I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the rule and ``yes'' on
the underlying bill.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POLIS. I thank the gentleman for yielding me the customary 30
minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the rule and the
underlying bill, the Northern Route Approval Act.
In the words of Yogi Berra, it's deja vu all over again here in the
House of Representatives.
Last week, the House of Representatives repealed the Affordable Care
Act for the 37th time. This week, for the eighth time in 2\1/2\ years,
we're voting yet again on another Keystone pipeline measure that will
never become law.
The very decision to sign this law would lie with the same President
upon whose desk this decision is currently awaiting approval; and,
therefore, this is yet another waste of taxpayer time, taxpayer money,
when we have pressing national issues we should be discussing--how to
address our budget deficit, how to get our economy moving, how to renew
affordable college and low-interest rates for students.
There are so many issues that my constituents are crying out for. Yet
another symbolic issue that has nothing to do with whether the Keystone
pipeline is approved or not is the last thing we should be spending our
time here on the floor of the people's House debating.
Rather than creating a bill that's more viable, instead this bill, by
far, is the worst iteration of the bill that we've seen, worst of the
eight.
Even my colleagues who support construction of the 875-mile pipeline
are having trouble supporting this bill because of its thinly veiled
messaging that guts important laws and waives judicial review.
In short, this Northern Route Approval Act is a regulatory earmark, a
specific earmark which this House of Representatives has purported to
eliminate. Not only is it an earmark; it's an earmark that has a far
greater dollar value than any of the earmarks that have been much
maligned by Members of both parties and are no longer part of this
deliberative body.
At a time where we should be advancing on renewable energy policy, on
an all-of-the-above energy policy, this bill would bypass the very
system that this Congress has set up under the law for consideration of
a project.
{time} 1250
This project has nothing to do with gas prices. In the analysis from
the Department of State, there is absolutely no indication this would
have anything to do with gas prices. This is for the global market.
Let's debate it for what it is. Is it a favor to Canada if we do it?
Absolutely. Does it have an environmental and health impact on
Americans? Absolutely. Weigh the two. Let's look at a cost benefit.
This has nothing to do with lower gas prices. If we want to talk
about lower gas prices, let's do it. Let's increase fuel efficiency
standards to lower gas prices. Let's look at what we're doing
nationally. Let's look at our processing
[[Page H2854]]
capacity. Let's look at alternative and public transportation. There's
a lot of things we could be doing that actually would reduce gas
prices. There is no analysis in the Department of State's thorough
vetting of this that this would have any impact on price at the pump.
This is 5 to 10 years from now, exporting a majority for the global
market.
Instead of voting on this act, there's a number of other great
bipartisan bills we could be talking about which would reduce gas
prices. Let me give an example.
The Public Lands Renewable Energy Act that I helped coauthor with
Representatives Gosar, Thompson, and Heck of Nevada would expand
renewable energy development and create jobs while protecting our
Nation's public health and environmental resources. And yes, because we
expand our renewable energy development portfolio, it would apply
downward pressure on gas prices.
This bill is talking about a review process that's already well
underway for the Keystone XL pipeline. Congress, itself, set up the
process whereby each administration--and the country has the
opportunity every 4 years to elect a President. Congress set up the
process where each administration has the criteria for approving
projects like Keystone. If we don't like the criteria, let's talk about
changing those criteria in statute. That's the proper way to do it, not
just shortcut the very process that Congress set up.
Until then, we need to keep this process in place. No matter what the
administration does, some Members of Congress aren't going to like the
outcome; but we establish the ground rules, and the executive branch is
administering the law that we created. Rather than interrupting the
State Department's review process with this bill, we should allow the
Department to take the necessary time to address the impacts, the
concerns, the costs, and the benefits of this controversial pipeline.
Although there's many issues that need to be better understood as
part of the Keystone XL process, it's critical that we address pipeline
safety issues to make sure that tar sands don't spill into our
communities. It's not a Republican or Democratic issue. Everybody wants
to make sure that America is safe, even if we do a major favor for
Canada. There are indications that this pipeline could be more
susceptible to oil spills because of the higher pressure that this type
of pipeline uses compared to conventional crude. In fact, in the public
comment period, many Americans expressed their concern that a spill
could impact their property value, their health, their safety, access
to clean drinking water, and quality of life. These are the types of
things the administration is rightfully weighing in determining the
outcome.
While others argue the pipelines are the safest way to transport tar
sands crude oil, the 150,000-gallon oil spill in Mayflower, Arkansas, 2
months ago shows an example about the inadequacy of some of our current
pipeline safety regulations. I've heard arguments that the pipeline
could create economic benefit. Well, communities like Mayflower
certainly won't see the benefits of Keystone when their yards, homes,
and businesses are buried in the thick black layer of tar sands crude
oil, threatening agriculture and local economic development.
I think that we should make sure that tar sands developers adhere to
pipeline safety standards that protect the health of Americans and
protect our economy and protect jobs to ensure that any project that
goes forward doesn't destroy jobs rather than create them.
To address pipeline safety issues, Mr. Tonko of New York has offered
a commonsense amendment. He'll be here to speak about that. It would
require the Secretary of Transportation to determine whether current
pipeline regulations are sufficient to address the special safety
concerns that are particular to transporting tar sands crude oil.
Unfortunately, however, this rule, which I strongly oppose, as well as
the underlying bill, does not allow for the discussion or even the
debate about Mr. Tonko's amendment, which I think is a commonsense
requirement.
Since this bill doesn't require the pipeline regulations which were
requested by Mr. Tonko, I'm pleased that at least an amendment that I
offer with Ms. Chu of California and Mr. Connolly of Virginia was made
in order. This amendment would require the Government Accountability
Office to evaluate the true cost of a potential spill from the Keystone
XL pipeline in our communities. The GAO study would look at the impact
of tar sands spills on public health, the environment, and the quantity
and quality of water available for agriculture to farmers and to
municipalities for drinking.
It's inevitable that the Keystone pipeline will have spills and
leaks. That much we know. These spills and leaks are not only costly to
clean up--and we need to know and understand those costs--but they also
take a toll on our communities. Accidents happen. Understanding the
cost of spills is also important because the Keystone pipeline is
slated to cross over the Ogallala Aquifer. The Ogallala Aquifer lies
beneath 8 States, including my home State of Colorado, and supplies
drinking water to about 2 million Americans and supplies 30 percent of
the irrigation water for our Nation's farmers.
TransCanada stated that it will provide alternative water supplies to
affected communities if an oil spill impacts surface or groundwater.
But TransCanada's promise to provide alternative water supplies in case
of an oil spill is not enough insurance for millions of Americans who
rely on the Ogallala Aquifer for drinking water and for farming. We
simply need more information about the potential impact and the range
of impact that an oil spill would have on the Ogallala Aquifer.
Mr. Speaker, even if my colleagues support the President if he
chooses to move forward with the Keystone XL pipeline, there are many
reasons not to vote for H.R. 3. Rather than ensuring that we have the
proper protections in place for our environment and our citizens, the
Northern Route Approval Act mandates approval of the pipeline while
waiving nearly all other Federal permitting requirements.
It doesn't even allow a discussion of amendments like Mr. Tonko's
that were brought forward in good faith that at least deserve 10
minutes on the floor of the House when, by the way, we're debating a
bill that's never going to become law, won't be brought up in the
Senate, and goes to the very same President for signature who's
considering this project. So the least we can do is spend 10 minutes
debating Mr. Tonko's meaningful amendment if we're spending time
debating everything else that isn't going to become law.
I encourage my colleagues to oppose this rule, support a more open
and transparent process here on the floor of the House, and then move
forward with legislation that deals with critical national priorities
that all of our constituents are calling upon this Congress to act
upon.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from Louisiana, Dr. Fleming.
Mr. FLEMING. I thank my friend from Florida.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and the underlying bill.
It's very interesting that our colleagues on the other side of the
aisle claim that more oil production doesn't affect the price of oil or
gasoline. Well, that's the same thing as saying that gravity doesn't
exist and the Earth is still flat. Neither one of those are true.
We all know that it's a marketplace, it's a commodity, and the more
you produce, the lower the price. How well do I know that? In my own
district in Louisiana, we produce more natural gas than we can use, and
the price now is so low that we can hardly produce it because of the
low reimbursement for the cost. But that will come up over time.
Two cents a gallon in 1 day is how much gasoline prices have recently
increased. It has increased 7 cents a gallon just in the last week. It
may not sound like much, but the price of gas is going up once again.
One headline says, ``Gas Prices Spike Ahead of Memorial Day.'' That's
hitting just about every American in the wallet, and yet the President
continues to play games with a project that will carry an estimated 830
barrels of oil per day from Canada to the gulf coast for processing.
So what are we waiting for? More studies? This project has been
studied
[[Page H2855]]
to death. Every State that it would go through has already sent its
approval. It's been 1,700 days since TransCanada first applied to the
State Department for permission to build the Keystone XL pipeline.
TransCanada says pipeline construction will create about 20,000 jobs.
And our colleagues on the other side of the aisle say, Why aren't we
talking about jobs? Twenty-thousand good-paying jobs, plus lower prices
to the consumer.
{time} 1300
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. I yield the gentleman 30 seconds.
Mr. FLEMING. I thank the gentleman.
But the Obama administration's State Department has politicized this
project and stalled it in order to kowtow to the far-left environmental
fringe.
We need the jobs and we need the energy benefits. We need the lower
costs for consumers and for manufacturing.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, of course quantity affects price--Economics
101. The disconnect here and the failure in the argument from the other
side is this quantity is a rounding error in the global supply and the
global demand. This has no impact on price. We're not talking about
anything that actually moves the bar of reducing gas prices for
consumers.
With that, it's my honor to yield 1 minute to my colleague from
Michigan (Mr. Peters).
Mr. PETERS of Michigan. I rise to urge my colleagues to reject this
rule and reject H.R. 3.
We've already seen the impact of tar sands oil in my district. Piles
of petroleum coke three stories tall and a city block wide are sitting
on the banks of the Detroit River. Pet coke, a byproduct of refining
tar sands oil, is much dirtier than coal and is often sold to China. In
Detroit, it sits uncovered and uncontained, waiting to blow into the
air and water. These piles of petroleum coke are a blight on our
communities and could pose a threat to the environment and public
health.
I offered an amendment to require a study on the environmental
impacts of petroleum coke and other byproducts. This amendment was
rejected by the Rules Committee despite the study's potential benefits
to communities who may become host to their own piles of Pet coke.
The bill--and the rule--is taking us in the wrong direction. Instead
of selling dirty energy to China, we should be developing clean energy
technology here at home.
For these reasons, I cannot support the rule. And urge my colleagues
to reject H.R. 3.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the
gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Sanford).
Mr. SANFORD. I rise in support of the rule because I think that this
illusion of energy independence has, in any case, been postponed by the
very actions that work against this rule would represent because we're
talking here about 5 years of postponement. And I think to have real
energy solutions here in the United States means, first off, using the
energy solutions that are represented in this continent.
I think it is by no means a fix, it's by no means a cure--in
deference to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle--but it is an
important step in the right direction. I think as well it represents a
step toward energy independence, which is also about national security.
I think it's a step toward jobs, which are vital in this country and
needed at this time--more than 20,000. And I think ultimately it's a
pocketbook issue. Where, as you think about driving time coming this
summer and the number of people who will be filling up their tanks,
this is a step in the right direction toward energy independence,
energy security, and ultimately jobs. For that reason, I rise in
support of the rule.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I am honored to yield 2 minutes to the
gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko), whose amendment under this rule
was also shut out from even a debate here on the floor of the House.
Mr. TONKO. I thank the gentleman from Colorado.
I oppose the rule and the underlying legislation.
I submitted two amendments to the committee; I regret that neither
was made in order. One--rejected by the Republican majority--would have
protected private property owners along the pipeline route from being
bullied by TransCanada into giving up their land. The other amendment
would have required the Secretary of Transportation to provide
assurance that current pipeline safety regulations are sufficient to
prevent spills of diluted bitumen. I have represented communities that
have been impacted by pipeline explosions. I know the price they pay.
Much of this pipeline is going to cross private lands, not public
lands. Protection of private property rights is something we hear a lot
about whenever government makes a decision to protect unique and
valuable public resources. But apparently, if a foreign company wants
to build a pipeline to transport oil for export, private property
rights can be sacrificed.
What is the rush? There is existing pipeline capacity to deliver this
oil. The tar sands are not going to disappear. Our citizens should
receive a fair chance to defend their property in State courts. This
legislation deprives them of that opportunity.
Ms. Julia Trigg Crawford testified last month before the Committee on
the Judiciary's Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice in
favor of limiting the power of eminent domain and in strong opposition
to granting an exemption to TransCanada. I will include her testimony
with my statement. She is only one of a number of landowners who were
bullied by TransCanada, and she is now seeking a remedy in State court.
Ms. Crawford and all other property owners who have gone to the
courts should have the opportunity to make their cases. If TransCanada
wants access to our land, they should follow our laws--laws put in
place to safeguard our resources and our rights.
I urge my colleagues to reject this rule and this ill-conceived and
unnecessary legislation.
Testimony submitted to the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on
the Constitution and Civil Justice Hearing on the Private Property
Rights Protection Act
April 18, 2013.
My name is Julia Trigg Crawford. I am the third-generation
manager of the farm my grandfather bought in 1948. As a
landowner along TransCanada's conveniently uncoupled Keystone
Gulf Coast Project, I absolutely support measures to limit
eminent domain. But I strongly oppose an exemption for
TransCanada, its Keystone XL, and any other foreign or
domestic for-profit entity that cannot provide proof that
their projects are for public benefit.
I believe, as do countless others following my family's
legal case, that TransCanada has abused the power of eminent
domain in taking our land. When another pipeline asked to
come across our place, we said we did not want them here and
asked they would find a different route through a willing
neighbor. That pipeline company did just that--and eminent
domain was never mentioned.
When they came knocking in 2008 we told TransCanada the
same thing: we don't want a pipeline here, and asked them to
find another route. They said no, then exploited a flawed
permitting process in Texas, and used eminent domain to take
the easement they wanted across our land.
There are a host of reasons why we don't want a pipeline
across our property. First, we don't believe a foreign
corporation should have more of a right to our land than we
do. Secondly, we need to protect its Caddo Indian heritage,
specifically the 145 artifacts TransCanada's archeologists
recently found within the proposed pipeline easement. How
curious that TransCanada and the Texas Historical Commission
concur that my entire 30-acre pasture qualifies for National
Registry of Historic Places recognition, EXCEPT for the one
sliver of land TransCanada must have on our place to connect
the two sections of pipeline they've already build adjacent
to our land
We don't want them horizontally drilling under the Bois
d'Arc Creek where we have State-given water rights. We
irrigate 400 acres of cropland from this creek, and the
pipeline would be just a couple hundred yards upstream from
our pumps. Any leak from that pipeline would contaminate our
equipment, and then our crops in minutes.
Furthermore, the neighbor directly to the west of us owns
thousands of acres, and had granted TransCanada an easement
anyway. When we politely asked them to seek a way around us,
TransCanada could have slightly altered their route and
traversed that neighboring land differently, avoiding our
property altogether. But instead they just pulled out the
club of eminent domain, telling a reporter later it was just
too late to make any changes.
As some of you may know, in 2011 the Texas Supreme Court
ruled in Denbury
[[Page H2856]]
Green that private property rights are far too precious to be
taken by simply checking a box on a form. Furthermore, the
Supreme Court said that when challenged by a landowner, the
burden falls on the pipeline to present reasonable proof it
meets the requirements of a common carrier. So we did just
that, we asked for the proof.
In challenging TransCanada, we asked them to provide proof
they met the qualifications as a common carrier and had the
right of eminent domain. And once again they hid behind the
skirts of the Texas Railroad Commission, saying in essence,
The Railroad Commission believes us, you should too. The
embattled Railroad Commission has proven to be nothing more
than a rubber stamp, they have never denied anyone common
carrier status. So, when we asked for another element of
proof, their tariff schedule, TransCanada said in court they
would not have that tariff schedule until about the time
product started flowing. In other words, they could not
produce this particular proof they were entitled to take my
land until after my land was condemned, handed over to them,
construction was completed and tarsands, the product for
which Keystone is being built, was flowing. This is wrong,
and is precisely why the Keystone XL should not be granted an
exemption from this bill's much needed eminent domain
restrictions.
If I read it correctly, this bill's exemptions for
pipelines already under construction allow current eminent
domain abuses to go unpunished. The bill addresses the
problems, and outlines important solutions, yet allows those
who exploited the process up until a certain date on a
calendar to get off ``scot-free''. And as someone who has
lost part of her family farm to this abuse, that's leaves me,
and lots of people like me out in the cold. And add insult to
injury: our land was taken through abusive means, and the
abusers could get off without even a hand-slap.
Two years ago when our family first began our stand against
eminent domain abuse, TransCanada was flying below the radar
screen. No one seemed to know much about the Keystone XL
Pipeline. But now the light is blindingly bright on
TransCanada, the tarsands, and the threat to everyone's land
and water. People around the world see that TransCanada
represents eminent domain gone unchecked and horribly wrong.
Why else would there be so much pushback, by so many people,
from so many backgrounds, in so many ways, to the Keystone XL
project?
If we allow an exception for TransCanada and the Keystone
XL, we will be setting a dangerous precedent, leaving the
door open for even further misuse of our legal system and
more abuse of landowners unwilling to risk their property for
foreign profits. The same system that enabled the judge in
our case to issue a 15-word ruling from his iPhone would
enable TransCanada and other pipeline companies to use the
incredible legal and psychological leverage of eminent domain
to continue stealing property from American citizens.
We have appealed that iPhone ruling, and look forward to
our day in court with an experienced panel of judges in the
6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Texarkana, Texas. And if our
legal defense fund holds out, we may take it to the Texas
Supreme Court.
Eminent domain abuse at the hands of one greedy corporation
is unforgivable, but it is part of something even bigger.
While all land is invaluable to its owners, farmland holds a
particularly unique position. Rural property rights, like
mine, are the ``fundamental building blocks for our Nation's
agricultural industry.'' ``The use of eminent domain to take
farmland and other rural property for economic development
threatens liberty, rural economies, and the economy of the
United States.'' And TransCanada is at the heart of these
issues right now. Their advertisements in my local newspaper
say ``We want to be more than just a pipeline company: we
want to be a trusted neighbor''. They've given me no reason
to trust them.
I do not believe there has been even one shred of
documentation that proves that one single drop of the
products transported through TransCanada's pipeline will be
refined for use in the U.S. Yet we are supposed to relinquish
our family's tradition and the cultural heritage of the
families who lived on our land before us, just because
TransCanada says, without proof, that their pipeline is for
the public good. How can this pipeline be for the public good
when so much information about it is not even in the public
record? Diluted bitumen, tarsands, whatever you want to call
it, is a product we should fully understand before we start
pumping it through major waterways, sometimes through 70-
year-old pipelines built before tarsands extraction was
economically viable. TransCanada has called this product
proprietary, refusing to provide specifics. How can we ensure
the safety of a substance when we don't even know its
ingredients?
Pipeline companies do not deserve a free ride, especially
when they can't clean up their own messes, and especially
when we taxpayers are subsidizing the cleanup attempts. Look
at Enbridge in Michigan. Look at Exxon in Arkansas. This is a
spill I went to see for myself. Standing at a culvert, I saw
the 5 foot high imprint of the oil rush to the local
wetlands. The thought of seeing the equivalent on my creek
bank is disheartening. America already subsidizes the oil
industry at a monumental disproportion to other industries.
Are we to further subsidize pipelines with our safety, our
security, and our human dignity?
Corporations may be considered to be people, but dollars do
not yet count as votes. TransCanada's money never sleeps, but
neither do landowners like me, faced with the threat of
losing our property, or seeing our land and identities torn
apart.
This bill brings much needed reform to a sometimes flawed
system, and a platform where wrong can be made right. But
with this exception that includes TransCanada, it is turning
a blind eye to the most flagrant abuser of eminent domain
today. I urge you to remove that exclusion, and let those who
have abused be exposed, and suffer the consequences.
TransCanada stole land that has been in my family for 6
decades, and all for a project that will line their pockets.
To allow them to walk away from past abuses without penalty
is egregious. I will continue to fight these injustices
because life, as we know it, depends on it. And I am not
alone.
Respectfully submitted,
Julia Trigg Crawford.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the
gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Terry).
Mr. TERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this rule and the
underlying legislation.
Let's be honest: this permit is 5 years old. The average time for
authorizing permits in these types of projects is 18 to 24 months.
Enough paralysis by analysis.
Now, some may say during this discussion that we're being impatient
and we're rushing this through--1,700 days? This delay has taken longer
than it took the Greatest Generation to win World War II on both
fronts. It's longer than it took Lewis and Clark to do their
exploration of the Louisiana Purchase to Oregon and back.
The Keystone XL is a private infrastructure project with no
government funds that will create nongovernment jobs--by the way, a $7
billion infrastructure project, 20,000 direct jobs along this route
over a 2-year period.
I want to make a very important point. Those who oppose this
legislation argue that it's unprecedented. This is not the first time
Congress has had to intervene to build a pipeline. Like-minded
legislation to this one was necessary 40 years ago to achieve
construction of the game-changing trans-Alaska pipeline. That
legislation that was passed and signed into law deemed that the
environmental studies--NEPA--were sufficient, as this one does; that
rights of way across Federal lands--not State, but Federal lands--were
processed; and judicial review was also included.
Then again, in 2004, Congress had to act to pass legislation to build
the Alaska natural gas pipeline. That legislation was passed and signed
into law with a 60-day judicial review. The pipeline was deemed to be
in the national interest and, unlike today, it expedited the NEPA.
Here, the NEPA process has been finished--complete. The only way you
can get more studies is to have amendments requiring more studies
because all of the legal requirements have been filled.
Today, we just heard about mistreatment. And there was some
misinformation from the last speaker regarding what this bill does. It
gives a streamlined judicial process in regard to the Federal permits
issued. It has nothing to do with States' eminent domain. But let's
hear some facts.
Today, TransCanada has agreements with 60,000 landowners over 32,000
miles of pipeline. Under the original Keystone pipeline that goes
through Nebraska, there were over 300 landowners involved in
negotiations, four of whom objected. Three of those settled, one went
to court; 300 versus four that were upset. And they got their day in
court in the State of Nebraska, just like this bill preserves. If there
are verifiable crop deficiencies, it's TransCanada's policy to make
them whole.
Now, what will compel the State Department to complete this process?
They've had it for 5 years. The studies have been completed--the
original NEPA, a supplemental, a Nebraska supplemental.
Mr. Speaker, this is the most studied pipeline in the history of
mankind.
{time} 1310
History is our greatest educator.
In 1973, Congress passed and President Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska
Pipeline Act to ``ensure that because of the extensive governmental
studies already made of this project and the national interest in early
delivery of North Slope oil to domestic markets, the trans-Alaska
pipeline be constructed promptly without further administrative or
judicial delay or impediment.''
[[Page H2857]]
That was 40 years ago we had the same problems; 2004 we have the same
problems. And it took Congress to act to resolve them.
This will be the newest, most highly engineered pipeline in our
history to resolve some of the questions from the gentleman from
Colorado. Again, three separate environmental studies.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. I yield the gentleman an additional minute.
Mr. TERRY. The point of those is to study the impacts, if there is a
spill, to not only the soil, the ecosystem, but the Ogallala Aquifer as
well. Three different studies have dealt with that. All have
scientifically concluded that there is negligible impact on the
ecosystem, or in the artistic term ``not significant.''
The most celebrated geologist in the State of Nebraska has said that
it is impossible for the oil to get to the Ogallala Aquifer; but if it
did, the water is still and won't move out of that and can be easily
remedied.
Now, I'm not being impatient; the Republicans aren't being impatient.
Our Nation of builders needs this pipeline, and I urge approval of both
the rule and the bill.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman cited studies that apparently
addressed his concerns about environmental impact. I would draw his
attention to the fact that there were three draft studies--one that was
actually finalized. All of them were on the old routing. The project
itself has been revised. There have been zero studies, environmental
studies for health and water, with regard to the new routing of the
pipeline.
With that, I would like to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Grijalva).
Mr. GRIJALVA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the rule. Whether
or not you support the pipeline, you should oppose this legislation.
H.R. 3 is a reckless attempt to sideline environmental review and limit
public input.
The majority claims that Keystone XL is the most studied pipeline in
the history of pipelines. Shouldn't a pipeline that is going to run the
length of our country be exhaustively studied? We need to know the
environmental impacts and truly weigh all the consequences, intended or
not, of H.R. 3; and H.R. 3 would deny the American people and this
Congress that opportunity.
Over 1 million Americans commented on the Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement. The President and his administration need time to
analyze these comments and evaluate the impacts of this massive
project. H.R. 3 shuts that process down and says it's ready to go.
This can't be about making the President look bad or the bottom line
of a Canadian corporation. This is about doing what's right for this
country.
This is no ordinary pipeline. It will transport dirty tar sands oil
from Canada to Port Arthur, Texas. Tar sands oil produces 40 percent
more carbon pollution than conventional oils.
Pretending that this pipeline has to be done and has to be done
immediately is to hide from the reality of the consequences of this
pipeline. We really don't need the oil. It is oil that will be
primarily exported out of this country.
A recent study by Cornell University found that Keystone XL will
divert more green jobs and contribute to more climate change than any
other project. The claims of employment are hugely exaggerated.
We are having the wrong conversation. We should be talking about the
future of real energy independence and alternative and renewable
energy.
While I don't support H.R. 3 or Keystone XL, I think the decision
lies with the President. That's why I am circulating a letter to the
President to reject this lack of a Presidential permit.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce).
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee,
let me make it abundantly clear here: the pipeline is going to be
built. The question is whether it's going to be built west to
Vancouver, and then we're going to see the product shipped to our
economic competitors; or will the pipeline be built south to our
refineries in the United States.
There's a second point. We've got the cleanest burning refineries in
the world. That is not true in terms of our economic competitors.
So from an environmental standpoint and from the standpoint of energy
needs in the U.S., it makes no sense to advance the interests of our
economic competitors.
Now, the U.S. energy costs have been declining. China's energy costs
have been rising. Our country is becoming a more attractive place to
manufacture goods. We are also becoming more competitive, both with
Europe and with Asia.
U.S. gasoline prices right now are 30 percent lower than China's, and
U.S. electricity prices are 50 percent lower than Europe's. For those
of us that have been involved in manufacturing in the past, we
understand how important that is. We want energy prices lower here in
the United States than they are overseas, not the other way around.
A reliable and efficient energy supply is, frankly, vital to our
economic competitiveness; and unless we reverse course, we could
squander the advantage we have right now. The Keystone pipeline will
have a major positive impact on the economy at a time when millions of
hard-pressed Americans are searching for work. Keystone will create an
estimated 20,000 new direct jobs and we know hundreds of thousands of
indirect jobs, not only in the States where the pipelines will be built
and operated, but throughout the entire country.
Keystone is going to enhance our national security. Think about this
for a minute. And, frankly, our Foreign Affairs Committee members, 24
of our Republican Members, wrote to the President in February saying
that by providing secure access to petroleum from Canada, we would
reduce our reliance on energy imports from countries in the OPEC
cartel. The U.S. would be less vulnerable to political and security-
related disruptions of our energy supply.
Well, that's the point. That's the objective here. And in the same
vein, energy from Canada will enable us to reduce our dependence on
unstable and unfriendly oil exporters. For example, while the
Venezuelan regime remains openly hostile to the U.S., the country is
our fourth largest source of oil. By contrast, Canada has long been one
of our closest allies.
Our economies are joined together with Canada and our energy sectors
are already integrated. We want to spend the money in Canada and have
it circulated back over that border. Ninety percent of what Canada buys
is made in the United States. We could have no better partner in our
effort to ensure our energy security.
By obstructing the approval process, the administration not only
prevents the benefits of the pipeline from materializing; it also
chills the development for new projects. Think about this. At the
present time, Canada and Mexico are major sources of American energy
and offer enormous potential for the development of new oil and gas
fields and greatly expanded cross-border energy trade.
Yet if our existing Federal bureaucracy is willing to impose
excessive costs and continued delays on a project as sound as Keystone,
what reasonable business will want to assume similar risks going
forward? I tell you what will happen: that pipeline will be built
instead to Vancouver, British Columbia, and instead of the imports
coming into the United States.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. I yield the gentleman an additional 30
seconds.
Mr. ROYCE. The role of the State Department in the approval process
is to determine whether the project serves the national interest. No
one familiar with the facts would deny that it does, but the delays
continue based on unfounded claims.
The State Department's own draft Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement on Keystone concluded that, in effect, there was no
environmental reason not to approve the pipeline; yet still no action
has been taken.
But it appears that not everyone in the administration got the
message to slow this project down. This month, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service concluded that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline would
have no negative impact
[[Page H2858]]
on a wide range of threatened species--from the gray wolf, to the
whooping crane, to the prairie fringed orchid. While it found that the
project was likely to affect the American burying beetle, ABB, it
concluded that Keystone XL's conservation measures ``would likely
result in a net increase in protected ABB habitat.'' So the one animal
affected will actually be better off after the Keystone pipeline.
It is time to stop this charade. All reasonable objections to the
pipeline have been fully addressed. Please pass the legislation.
{time} 1320
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, it is my honor to yield 2 minutes to one of
our leaders on energy policy, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson
Lee).
(Ms. JACKSON LEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend
her remarks.)
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Let me thank the gentleman from Colorado for his
leadership, and I hope that we will continue this debate with my good
friends on the other side of the aisle on this issue.
It is just very challenging to have a structure of legislation that
deems approval and does not do what I think all of us want it to do,
which is to get moving to provide these jobs and to do what America is
uniquely noted for--that we cross the T's and dot the I's, that we make
sure that the environmental concerns are answered. I rise on this rule
to make several points.
Mr. Rush and I offered an amendment to strike section 4. In this
bill, it does not allow for judicial review. It allows for people in
Kentucky or in Arizona or in Texas to come to the District of Columbia
to file their cases in the Court of Appeals. As a member of the
Judiciary Committee, I raised concerns about that. My bill struck the
provision that eliminated judicial review so that some burdened
individual citizen couldn't just go into his Federal district court.
I had another amendment that is very near and dear to me that wants
to give new life to the jobs and businesses in the energy industry,
which is to create a report to ensure that women, small businesses,
minority-owned businesses get their fair shake and that we have an
overall commitment to hiring the new young graduates who are coming
out, many of them from the diverse community, which we see the energy
industry is still seeking to outreach because there is a great need for
increased diversity in many of these fields. Amendment No. 2 would have
added a nonseverability clause so that, if anything were found to be
unconstitutional, we would go back to the drawing board for this entire
bill.
Again, to have a major initiative be deemed approved, the Secretary
of State authority deemed approved, the Presidential authority deemed
approved, this is something that, my colleagues, we should work
together on.
I would finally suggest that I hope my colleagues will support my
amendment on extending to 1 year the period for filing. Let's work
together and make sure we've got something that will create jobs.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. I just want to say that I know there is a
desire to have more T's crossed and I's dotted. There are over 450,000
T's and I's in those 15,000 pages. We've done enough. It's time to
build this pipeline. Keystone XL will help lower gas prices and will
help protect against supply disruptions by putting downward pressure on
oil prices by increasing supply to domestic markets.
In a memo from the Department of Energy regarding Keystone XL, it
asserted that gasoline prices in all markets served by refiners on the
east coast and gulf would decrease, including in the Midwest. Yes, it
does do that. There are four things we said. One of them is the major
one, which is that it creates jobs immediately; 42,100 were estimated
by the Department of State in one of their four studies on this
particular bill. I mean, we could go study after study after study with
10 different agencies looking over and over and over. There are no more
studies to be done. It's time to make the decision. When should it be
made? Now.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from
Minnesota (Mr. Nolan).
Mr. NOLAN. Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, I rise in opposition
to the rule and the underlying bill. I lament that fact because I'm one
of those who supports the Keystone pipeline for the many reasons that
have been stated here.
I know people have concerns about oil sands, tar sands or oil
production processes, but that's a Canadian decision. The fact is that
these oils are going to be moved by tens of thousands of railroad cars
or trucks through the States or through a pipeline to the west.
Pipelines are a proven environmentally safe and sound way to move oil
around North America and the country.
I am in opposition to the bill because, in committee, it became
apparent that the bill relieves a foreign corporation from all of the
same obligations that domestic corporations are expected to honor. They
are exempted from having to comply with the EPA, with the Army Corps
permits for construction and maintenance. They are relieved of the
responsibility to pay taxes on the oil flowing through those pipelines.
They are relieved of responsibility for cleanup in the event of
accidents. That is a prescription for nothing but trouble and disaster.
Mr. Speaker, those are the reasons that I speak in opposition to this
rule and to this bill.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have left?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Florida has 9\1/2\
minutes remaining, and the gentleman from Colorado has 11 minutes
remaining.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. I reserve the balance of my time in order to
close.
Mr. POLIS. I would like to inquire of the gentleman if he has any
remaining speakers.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. No.
Mr. POLIS. I would like to inform the gentleman that I have possibly
one who, if he comes, I would like to yield to. Other than that, I am
prepared to close, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Look, it has been talked about as to the impact on gas prices in the
Midwest. There is no TAPS on this pipeline in the Midwest. It goes from
Canada to the Gulf of Mexico to China and everywhere else. There can't
even be TAPS on it in the Midwest because we're talking about
unprocessed tar sands crude, which needs to be processed. It's a drop
in the bucket in the global supply and has no impact on gas prices.
There are dozens of meaningful policies that we can talk about to
reduce gas prices. Let's get to it rather than taking this important
decision out of the context of the administration and out of the
context of the process that Congress, itself, set up to co-op that very
process for purely political purposes.
The Northern Route Approval Act exempts TransCanada from multiple
loss, including treaty acts that we've passed, the Clean Water Act, and
many others that my colleague Mr. Nolan pointed out that American
companies are subjected to. Yes, it's giving foreign companies
preferential treatment over American companies.
Even though we don't know the cost of potential Keystone tar sands
spills, we do know that American taxpayers will likely be stuck paying
the bill for cleaning up and for the economic costs of these spills.
Tar sands developers are exempt from paying into the Oil Spill
Liability Trust Fund. Let me repeat that. Tar sands developers are
exempt from paying into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. That's a
fund that normally collects an 8-cent per barrel excise tax on
domestically produced crude oil to pay for spill prevention and
mitigation efforts.
So they are exempt. They're not paying in. Like any oil that's pulled
out of the ground in Texas or across our country, they're paying in
because we know that oil spills happen; we know they have real economic
and health costs; we know they affect agriculture and water--but oh,
no, this project is exempt. Since tar sands are not considered
conventional oil, TransCanada is not required to pay into the trust
fund for the oil it transports, while the data indicates that the tar
sands crude can actually have a worse economic and environmental impact
when spilled than conventional oil. We can't subject more communities
like Mayflower to oil spills and then burden the U.S. taxpayers at a
time of record deficits with paying for the cleanup.
[[Page H2859]]
Approving the Keystone XL pipeline through this bill would simply
benefit foreign oil companies at the expense of the health and safety
of the American people. There is a process in place to protect the
health and safety of the American people, the economic welfare of the
American people, jobs. This bill circumvents that process that Congress
set up. If we want to change the process, let's have a debate about the
process for approval and the statutory framework and work with the
administration to come up with a better way to do it. Let's not go
around our own process just because we may or may not like what we may
or may not think is the outcome.
I urge the majority to stop wasting the American people's time with
bills that are going nowhere and to turn towards addressing so many
challenges we can agree on--reducing the deficit, improving the
economy, improving the efficiency of the delivery of health care. Let's
talk about reducing gas prices, the bipartisan bill that I've
introduced with Mr. Gosar and Mr. Heck and others.
{time} 1330
Mr. Speaker, if we defeat the previous question, I'll offer an
amendment to the rule to bring up H.R. 2070, Representative Tim
Bishop's bill to protect consumers from price gouging at the pump.
Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the
amendment into the Record along with the extraneous material
immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Colorado?
There was no objection.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' and
defeat the previous question, and I urge a ``no'' vote on the rule and
the underlying bill.
This rule doesn't even allow for 10 minutes of debate or 5 minutes of
debate or 1 minute of debate on the very commonsense amendments that
have been brought forward by my colleagues like Mr. Peters of Michigan
and Mr. Tonko of New York.
Don't we have 1 minute to debate these important amendments? What are
we doing that's so important? We didn't even go into session until noon
today. Why didn't we go into session at 11:59 a.m. and have 1 minute
for debate on these amendments? What are we doing here, Mr. Speaker? We
have the time to get it right. Let's do it.
I urge a ``no'' vote on the rule and the underlying bill, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I
may consume.
First of all, the amendments that were talked about are amendments
that would add to a process that we have said is very sacred. We don't
want to change the process. We don't want to circumvent it.
We're not circumventing any process. Because this crosses a national
boundary, there's only one thing left to do: we need the President to
okay it. Every study that could be done--this started in 2008 and
continued in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, and now here we are in 2013.
It's out of opportunities to be studied. It's time.
This rule provides for ample and open debate and makes in order
proposals from both sides of the aisle.
As I stated before, this bill represents so much more than the
approval of an 875-mile long pipeline. It represents 42,100 jobs,
greater energy independence, and will benefit our Nation for
generations to come.
The Keystone XL pipeline will allow 830,000 barrels of oil to flow
each day to domestic refineries that employ hardworking Americans. This
number represents half of our current daily crude oil imports from the
Middle East. This will not only diversify our energy sources, but it
will reduce our dependence on foreign oil from countries that in many
ways do not share or respect our freedom and democracy.
As we speak, the southern gulf coast segment of the Keystone XL
pipeline is being constructed. It didn't require Presidential approval
for one reason: it didn't cross a national border. It was studied by
the requisite State and Federal environmental agencies, it was
approved, and now it's approximately 50 percent complete.
Four years and 15,000 pages represent more than enough time and paper
to study this pipeline. Any more paper and we'll need an environmental
impact statement to study the effects of the environmental impact
statement.
Our Nation is crying out for job creation, energy independence, and
lower gas prices. Today, we have the opportunity to answer that call
and to remove the few remaining barriers that stand between Americans
and the relief they desperately need.
I ask my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of this rule and
passage of the underlying bill.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I
thank Chairman Sessions and the Members of the Rules Committee for
making in order my amendment that extends the time period for filing a
claim arising under the Act from 60 days to 1 year.
Mr. Speaker, the Keystone XL Pipeline project raises several issues
important to every Member of this House:
Energy production and independence.
Environmental protection and preservation.
Job creation.
Separation of powers and checks and balances.
Given the importance of these issues, I believe the House would have
benefitted from a rule that provided for even more extensive and wide-
ranging debate and that made more amendments in order.
For example, an amendment I offered jointly with Congressman Rush,
Jackson Lee Amendment #4, would have struck Section 4 of the bill and
restored the right to full judicial review to aggrieved parties.
Another amendment I offered, Jackson Lee Amendment #3, would have
required the Secretary of Transportation to submit within 90 days of
enactment a report to Congress identifying the procedures and policies
adopted to ensure that women and minority business enterprises are
afforded the opportunity to participate on an equitable basis in the
construction and operation of the Keystone equitable basis in the
construction and operation of the Keystone Pipeline. Had this amendment
been made in order and adopted Congress would have been provided with
helpful information needed to conduct appropriate oversight.
Another amendment I offered, Jackson Lee Amendment #2 Amendment,
would have added a non-severability clause to the bill, which states
that: ``if any provision or application of the legislation is held to
be invalid, the entire act shall be rendered void.''
This non-severability clause simply would have made explicit that the
component parts of this bill all fit together, in pari materia, so to
speak, such that removing any one part would defeat the intended
purpose of the bill.
My amendment would make very clear the Congressional intent that this
bill is so delicately crafted, that it is ``all or nothing.''
Each of these provisions would be rendered meaningless if any of the
remaining parts is invalidated.
This has been a long standing principle of statutory construction,
going back at least to 1936, when the Supreme Court stated in Carter.
v. Carter Coal Co., 298 U.S. 238, 312 (1936):
``[T]he presumption is that the Legislature intends an act
to be effective as an entirety--that is to say, the rule is
against the mutilation of a statute; and if any provision be
unconstitutional, the presumption is that the remaining
provisions fall with it.
This presumption becomes conclusive when Congress makes its intention
clear, see Carter v. Carter Coal Co., 298 U.S. at 312, by including a
non-severability clause in the statute.
My amendment would have done just that.
For these reasons, I am opposed to the rule and cannot support it.
We can do better to create jobs, build the pipeline, and protect the
environment. I will consider how to move forward.
Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk. It is Jackson Lee
Amendment No. 1.
I thank the Members of the Rules Committee for making the amendment
in order.
My amendment is simple and straightforward. It extends the time
period for filing a claim arising under the Act from 60 days to 1 year
after the date of the decision or action giving rise to the claim.
This amendment is especially needed because H.R. 3, the underlying
bill, vests exclusive jurisdiction over any and all claims arising
under the Act in a single court--the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia.
Think about that. The Keystone Pipeline is proposed to run from
Alberta, Canada through the great States of North Dakota, South Dakota,
Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and my State of Texas all the way to the
Gulf of Mexico.
And the only court in the country authorized to hear the claims of
any resident of any of these States who seeks justice for a legally
cognizable injury is located more than 1,000 miles away from their
homes.
[[Page H2860]]
This will impose undue hardship and financial burdens on ordinary
Americans seeking justice. Instead, the bill requires them to find and
retain a high-priced D.C. lawyer that they don't know and may have
never met to represent their interests in a court in a far away land.
Another reason for extending the time period in which to file a claim
from 60 days to 1 year is because by lodging jurisdiction in the D.C.
Court of Appeals, the burden of proof and persuasion is shifted from
the governmental and corporate actors involved to the homeowners, small
businesses, and individuals bringing the legal action.
This is because the burden that must be shouldered by a plaintiff is
very steep. To challenge factual and evidentiary determinations made in
an Environmental Impact Statement, for example, a plaintiff must
demonstrate that they are ``not supported by substantial evidence in
the record considered as a whole.''
To meet that standard, plaintiffs will have to retain experts, locate
and prepare witnesses, and gather and review documentary materials.
That takes time. And that is why my amendment is necessary.
The material previously referred to by Mr. Polis is as follows:
An Amendment to H. Res. 228 Offered By Mr. Polis of Colorado
At the end of the resolution, add the following new
sections:
Sec. 2. Immediately upon adoption of this resolution the
Speaker shall, pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XVIII, declare
the House resolved into the Committee of the Whole House on
the state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R.
2070) to protect consumers from price-gouging of gasoline and
other fuels, and for other purposes. The first reading of the
bill shall be dispensed with. All points of order against
consideration of the bill are waived. General debate shall be
confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally
divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority
member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. After general
debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the
five-minute rule. All points of order against provisions in
the bill are waived. At the conclusion of consideration of
the bill for amendment the Committee shall rise and report
the bill to the House with such amendments as may have been
adopted. The previous question shall be considered as ordered
on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without
intervening motion except one motion to recommit with or
without instructions. If the Committee of the Whole rises and
reports that it has come to no resolution on the bill, then
on the next legislative day the House shall, immediately
after the third daily order of business under clause 1 of
rule XIV, resolve into the Committee of the Whole for further
consideration of the bill.
Sec. 3. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the
consideration of H.R. 2070.
____
The Vote on the Previous Question: What It Really Means
This vote, the vote on whether to order the previous
question on a special rule, is not merely a procedural vote.
A vote against ordering the previous question is a vote
against the Republican majority agenda and a vote to allow
the Democratic minority to offer an alternative plan. It is a
vote about what the House should be debating.
Mr. Clarence Cannon's Precedents of the House of
Representatives (VI, 308-311), describes the vote on the
previous question on the rule as ``a motion to direct or
control the consideration of the subject before the House
being made by the Member in charge.'' To defeat the previous
question is to give the opposition a chance to decide the
subject before the House. Cannon cites the Speaker's ruling
of January 13, 1920, to the effect that ``the refusal of the
House to sustain the demand for the previous question passes
the control of the resolution to the opposition'' in order to
offer an amendment. On March 15, 1909, a member of the
majority party offered a rule resolution. The House defeated
the previous question and a member of the opposition rose to
a parliamentary inquiry, asking who was entitled to
recognition. Speaker Joseph G. Cannon (R-Illinois) said:
``The previous question having been refused, the gentleman
from New York, Mr. Fitzgerald, who had asked the gentleman to
yield to him for an amendment, is entitled to the first
recognition.''
The Republican majority may say ``the vote on the previous
question is simply a vote on whether to proceed to an
immediate vote on adopting the resolution . . . [and] has no
substantive legislative or policy implications whatsoever.''
But that is not what they have always said. Listen to the
Republican Leadership Manual on the Legislative Process in
the United States House of Representatives, (6th edition,
page 135). Here's how the Republicans describe the previous
question vote in their own manual: ``Although it is generally
not possible to amend the rule because the majority Member
controlling the time will not yield for the purpose of
offering an amendment, the same result may be achieved by
voting down the previous question on the rule. . . . When the
motion for the previous question is defeated, control of the
time passes to the Member who led the opposition to ordering
the previous question. That Member, because he then controls
the time, may offer an amendment to the rule, or yield for
the purpose of amendment.''
In Deschler's Procedure in the U.S. House of
Representatives, the subchapter titled ``Amending Special
Rules'' states: ``a refusal to order the previous question on
such a rule [a special rule reported from the Committee on
Rules] opens the resolution to amendment and further
debate.'' (Chapter 21, section 21.2) Section 21.3 continues:
``Upon rejection of the motion for the previous question on a
resolution reported from the Committee on Rules, control
shifts to the Member leading the opposition to the previous
question, who may offer a proper amendment or motion and who
controls the time for debate thereon.''
Clearly, the vote on the previous question on a rule does
have substantive policy implications. It is one of the only
available tools for those who oppose the Republican
majority's agenda and allows those with alternative views the
opportunity to offer an alternative plan.
Mr. WEBSTER of Florida. With that, I yield back the balance of my
time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on ordering the previous
question.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XX, the Chair
will reduce to 5 minutes the minimum time for any electronic vote on
the question of adoption of the resolution.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 223,
nays 194, not voting 16, as follows:
[Roll No. 167]
YEAS--223
Aderholt
Alexander
Amash
Amodei
Bachmann
Bachus
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bentivolio
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Bonner
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Broun (GA)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Burgess
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Conaway
Cook
Cotton
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Daines
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grimm
Guthrie
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Issa
Jenkins
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Jordan
Joyce
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Lankford
Latham
Latta
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Lummis
Marchant
Marino
Massie
Matheson
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Noem
Nunes
Olson
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Petri
Pittenger
Pitts
Poe (TX)
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Radel
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rokita
Rooney
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Royce
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
Schock
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stewart
Stivers
Stockman
Stutzman
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Turner
Upton
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Yoder
Yoho
Young (IN)
NAYS--194
Andrews
Barber
Barrow (GA)
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Bera (CA)
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardenas
Carney
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu
Cicilline
Clarke
Clay
Cleaver
Cohen
Connolly
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Courtney
[[Page H2861]]
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Duckworth
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Enyart
Eshoo
Esty
Farr
Fattah
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Grayson
Green, Al
Green, Gene
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hanabusa
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Himes
Hinojosa
Holt
Honda
Horsford
Hoyer
Huffman
Israel
Jackson Lee
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Kirkpatrick
Kuster
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lynch
Maffei
Maloney, Carolyn
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McIntyre
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Michaud
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Murphy (FL)
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Negrete McLeod
Nolan
O'Rourke
Owens
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters (CA)
Peters (MI)
Peterson
Pingree (ME)
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Rangel
Richmond
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Schwartz
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Speier
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Tonko
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--16
Clyburn
Cole
Diaz-Balart
Garcia
Hastings (FL)
Herrera Beutler
Markey
Miller, Gary
Nugent
Nunnelee
Ros-Lehtinen
Sarbanes
Titus
Woodall
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
{time} 1400
Mr. McNERNEY and Ms. JACKSON LEE changed their vote from ``yea'' to
``nay.''
So the previous question was ordered.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
(By unanimous consent, Mr. Lucas was allowed to speak out of order.)
Moment of Silence in Remembrance of Victims of Recent Tornados
Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, as you're all well aware, it's been a tough
week in the Southwest. In particular, it's been a tough few days in the
Fourth District of Oklahoma.
Today, I rise to first thank you for your prayers and your thoughts
and your good will, but I note also the tornado that rolled through
Congressman Tom Cole's district in Oklahoma, from Newcastle through
Moore and across the southern part of Oklahoma City. Congressman Cole
is not with us today because he is still in Oklahoma, addressing the
needs of and working with his fellow citizens and community members as
they try to put themselves back together after this strike by an F-5
tornado.
Moore is particularly important to our colleague, Congressman Cole,
because not only does he represent the community, but he was raised
there, two generations of his family buried in the cemetery there. So
it's a community that's important to him in many, many ways.
That said, the good folks in Moore and the other communities will,
over the coming days, pull themselves back together. They'll finish
sifting through every pile of rubble; they'll have made a determination
that there's no one left to be saved, as they work frantically to try
to do that; and they'll begin the process of laying to rest those who
were lost and put their entire community back together.
While many folks are well aware of the importance of FEMA and the
Federal response, Moore is a classic example--and this could be any
community in the United States--of where, in the greatest tragedy, the
most tragic loss of life, city government, county government, and State
government come together to work seamlessly to help those in need and
to recover those beyond help.
We in the Oklahoma delegation and our friends in the Texas delegation
appreciate everything that you have and you will help do in this
effort.
Mr. Speaker, with that, I yield to the gentleman who represents part
of that area and just to the north, Oklahoma City, the great Fifth
District of Oklahoma, Congressman Lankford.
Mr. LANKFORD. In the past week, Texas and Oklahoma have experienced a
storm. We lost 6 in Lake Granbury, Texas; 2 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, on
Sunday; and 24 in Moore, Oklahoma, including 10 children and 14 adults.
We have been overwhelmed with the number of people that have come to us
to say, ``We're praying for you.''
I would like to make a request that this body take a moment to pause
and pray and experience a moment of silence in honor of those that have
been lost and the recovery efforts ahead.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Womack). Members will rise and the House
will observe a moment of silence.
(By unanimous consent, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas was allowed
to speak out of order.)
Expressing Sympathy for the Victims of the Recent Tornados
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. As the Democratic side of the
Texas delegation, I want to join the other Republicans that came up
with the Oklahoma delegation and simply say that this is not a partisan
issue. We stand ready to be of assistance to those people in Oklahoma.
I represent Dallas. That is closer to Oklahoma City than it is to
Houston. No matter where tragedies may occur, we stand ready as
American people to stand by those people who have been affected,
notwithstanding party.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, 5-minute voting will
continue.
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker announced that the ayes
appeared to have it.
Recorded Vote
Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I demand a recorded vote.
A recorded vote was ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. This is a 5-minute vote.
The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--ayes 228,
noes 185, not voting 20, as follows:
[Roll No. 168]
AYES--228
Aderholt
Alexander
Amash
Amodei
Bachmann
Bachus
Barber
Barletta
Barr
Barton
Benishek
Bentivolio
Bilirakis
Bishop (UT)
Black
Blackburn
Bonner
Boustany
Brady (TX)
Bridenstine
Brooks (AL)
Brooks (IN)
Broun (GA)
Buchanan
Bucshon
Burgess
Calvert
Camp
Campbell
Cantor
Capito
Carter
Cassidy
Chabot
Chaffetz
Coble
Coffman
Collins (GA)
Collins (NY)
Conaway
Cook
Cotton
Cramer
Crawford
Crenshaw
Culberson
Daines
Davis, Rodney
Denham
Dent
DeSantis
DesJarlais
Duckworth
Duffy
Duncan (SC)
Duncan (TN)
Ellmers
Farenthold
Fincher
Fitzpatrick
Fleischmann
Fleming
Flores
Forbes
Fortenberry
Foxx
Franks (AZ)
Frelinghuysen
Gardner
Garrett
Gerlach
Gibbs
Gibson
Gingrey (GA)
Gohmert
Goodlatte
Gosar
Gowdy
Granger
Graves (GA)
Graves (MO)
Green, Gene
Griffin (AR)
Griffith (VA)
Grimm
Guthrie
Hall
Hanna
Harper
Harris
Hartzler
Hastings (WA)
Heck (NV)
Hensarling
Holding
Hudson
Huelskamp
Huizenga (MI)
Hultgren
Hunter
Hurt
Jenkins
Johnson (OH)
Johnson, Sam
Jordan
Joyce
Kelly (PA)
King (IA)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kinzinger (IL)
Kline
Labrador
LaMalfa
Lamborn
Lance
Lankford
Latham
Latta
LoBiondo
Long
Lucas
Luetkemeyer
Marchant
Marino
Massie
Matheson
McCarthy (CA)
McCaul
McClintock
McHenry
McIntyre
McKeon
McKinley
McMorris Rodgers
Meadows
Meehan
Messer
Mica
Miller (FL)
Miller (MI)
Mullin
Mulvaney
Murphy (FL)
Murphy (PA)
Neugebauer
Noem
Nunes
Nunnelee
Olson
Owens
Palazzo
Paulsen
Pearce
Perry
Peters (CA)
Peterson
Petri
Pittenger
Pitts
Pompeo
Posey
Price (GA)
Radel
Reed
Reichert
Renacci
Ribble
Rice (SC)
Rigell
Roby
Roe (TN)
Rogers (AL)
Rogers (KY)
Rogers (MI)
Rohrabacher
Rooney
Roskam
Ross
Rothfus
Royce
Runyan
Ryan (WI)
Salmon
Sanford
Scalise
Schock
Schweikert
Scott, Austin
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shimkus
Shuster
Simpson
Smith (NE)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (TX)
Southerland
Stewart
Stivers
Stockman
Stutzman
Terry
Thompson (PA)
Thornberry
Tiberi
Tipton
Turner
Upton
[[Page H2862]]
Valadao
Wagner
Walberg
Walden
Walorski
Weber (TX)
Webster (FL)
Wenstrup
Westmoreland
Whitfield
Williams
Wilson (SC)
Wittman
Wolf
Womack
Woodall
Yoder
Yoho
Young (IN)
NOES--185
Andrews
Barrow (GA)
Bass
Beatty
Becerra
Bera (CA)
Bishop (GA)
Bishop (NY)
Blumenauer
Bonamici
Brady (PA)
Braley (IA)
Brown (FL)
Brownley (CA)
Bustos
Butterfield
Capps
Capuano
Cardenas
Carney
Carson (IN)
Cartwright
Castor (FL)
Castro (TX)
Chu
Cicilline
Clarke
Clay
Cleaver
Cohen
Connolly
Conyers
Cooper
Costa
Courtney
Crowley
Cuellar
Cummings
Davis (CA)
Davis, Danny
DeFazio
DeGette
Delaney
DeLauro
DelBene
Deutch
Dingell
Doggett
Doyle
Edwards
Ellison
Engel
Enyart
Eshoo
Esty
Fattah
Foster
Frankel (FL)
Fudge
Gabbard
Gallego
Garamendi
Grayson
Green, Al
Grijalva
Gutierrez
Hahn
Hanabusa
Heck (WA)
Higgins
Himes
Hinojosa
Holt
Honda
Horsford
Hoyer
Huffman
Israel
Jackson Lee
Jeffries
Johnson (GA)
Johnson, E. B.
Kaptur
Keating
Kelly (IL)
Kennedy
Kildee
Kilmer
Kind
Kuster
Langevin
Larsen (WA)
Larson (CT)
Lee (CA)
Levin
Lewis
Lipinski
Loebsack
Lofgren
Lowenthal
Lowey
Lujan Grisham (NM)
Lujan, Ben Ray (NM)
Lynch
Maffei
Maloney, Carolyn
Maloney, Sean
Matsui
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McDermott
McGovern
McNerney
Meeks
Meng
Michaud
Miller, George
Moore
Moran
Nadler
Napolitano
Neal
Negrete McLeod
Nolan
O'Rourke
Pallone
Pascrell
Pastor (AZ)
Payne
Pelosi
Perlmutter
Peters (MI)
Pingree (ME)
Pocan
Polis
Price (NC)
Quigley
Rahall
Rangel
Richmond
Roybal-Allard
Ruiz
Ruppersberger
Rush
Ryan (OH)
Sanchez, Linda T.
Sanchez, Loretta
Schakowsky
Schiff
Schneider
Schrader
Schwartz
Scott (VA)
Scott, David
Serrano
Sewell (AL)
Shea-Porter
Sherman
Sinema
Sires
Slaughter
Smith (WA)
Speier
Swalwell (CA)
Takano
Thompson (CA)
Thompson (MS)
Tierney
Titus
Tonko
Tsongas
Van Hollen
Vargas
Veasey
Vela
Velazquez
Visclosky
Walz
Wasserman Schultz
Waters
Watt
Waxman
Welch
Wilson (FL)
Yarmuth
NOT VOTING--20
Clyburn
Cole
Diaz-Balart
Farr
Garcia
Hastings (FL)
Herrera Beutler
Issa
Jones
Kirkpatrick
Lummis
Markey
Miller, Gary
Nugent
Poe (TX)
Rokita
Ros-Lehtinen
Sarbanes
Young (AK)
Young (FL)
{time} 1413
So the resolution was agreed to.
The result of the vote was announced as above recorded.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________