[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 15 (Thursday, January 29, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         KEYSTONE ENERGY DEBATE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, in the past few weeks we had a 
whirlwind, but the Keystone jobs debate has been important for the 
Senate and for our country. We took about one dozen more rollcall votes 
on amendments yesterday. That means the Senate has now taken more than 
twice as many of these amendment votes on this bill alone than were 
offered or allowed all of last year.
  We obviously had a busy afternoon yesterday, and we will continue it 
again today. It has been an instructive exercise, too, because we 
learned about more than just the lesser prairie-chicken. We also 
discovered something about this body. We learned that open floor 
debates and open amendment processes require hard work, they require 
dedicated Members, and they require constructive cooperation from 
across the aisle.
  I thanked Senators Hoeven and Murkowski for their work before. I 
thank them again now. I note the efforts, once again, of colleagues 
such as Senator Cantwell.
  The debate over these American jobs has shown that with bipartisan 
cooperation, it is possible to get Washington functioning again. This 
debate is also proving the new Congress is ready to work and work hard 
for the middle class, even in the teeth of opposition from powerful 
special interests.
  Let's notch one more win for the middle class by passing this 
important infrastructure project. Constructing Keystone would pump 
literally billions into our economy. It would support thousands of good 
American jobs. As the President's own State Department has indicated, 
it would do this with minimal environmental impact.
  The Keystone infrastructure project has been studied endlessly--
endlessly--from almost every possible angle. The same general 
conclusion keeps becoming clear, build it. We need to build it.
  Let's make some progress for the American people by voting to pass 
the Keystone jobs and infrastructure bill.

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