Northern Route Approval Act

Floor Speech

Mr. CRAMER. Mr. Speaker, this week, the House of Representatives is going to vote on a very important piece of legislation that should be unnecessary.

Due to the President's objection--at the insistence of Hollywood and the EPA--a critical piece of North America's energy security puzzle languishes on a desk in the Oval Office while thousands of unemployed workers collect government benefits instead of a paycheck. That is why I cosponsored and am doing all I can to pass H.R. 3, the Keystone pipeline Northern Route Approval Act, a bill that renders the northern route of the pipeline approved for construction, eliminating the need for a Presidential permit.

As vast reserves of oil are discovered and new technologies unlocked, energy security in this decade is well within our reach. The amount of oil that could be flowing to U.S. refineries in the Keystone XL represents nearly 50 percent of the oil that we currently import from the Middle East.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to sitting on two of the subcommittees that held hearings on this legislation, I have a long history of involvement with TransCanada and the Keystone pipeline as a former environmental regulator in North Dakota. From 2003 until my election to Congress last year, I carried the pipeline portfolio as one of three members of the North Dakota Public Service Commission.

As you might imagine, the oil and gas pipeline construction business is robust in my State, as the Bakken shale development has elevated North Dakota to the position of the number two producing State in the country.

One of the pipelines we sited while I was on the PSC was the original TransCanada Keystone pipeline. It carries over 500,000 barrels of crude from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta to U.S. refineries in Illinois and Oklahoma.

The first 217 miles of this pipeline actually run through our State. It crosses the border in Cavalier County, North Dakota, and runs through seven more counties, crossing 600 landowners' land, two scenic rivers, and includes five pumping stations.

While not universally loved, I can tell you that not a single inch of this line in North Dakota required condemnation proceedings--not because I was such a great regulator, but because I represent such great citizens. Our citizens understand the value of energy security and the jobs that energy development creates, and that same sentiment exists in our Nation today.

The environmental safeguards we demanded on the Keystone are rigorous and appropriate. They've been tested and they work.

I toured the Keystone during construction and met many of the men and women, who were grateful for the good-paying jobs that built the line, and many other local restaurant and hotel proprietors, retailers, subcontractors who were happy to have the work and the business. The local officials and school administrators are grateful for the tax revenue that would not be there but for the Keystone pipeline, and, of course, the tax relief it provides local farmers, in addition to the easement payments, are a blessing.

Mr. Speaker, I've sited hundreds, maybe thousands of miles of oil pipelines that operate safely and efficiently throughout North Dakota, but none as thoroughly vetted and safe as the Keystone XL.

I've heard the arguments from my friends across the aisle who claim the Keystone only helps Canada and does nothing to the benefit of the United States. They also claim that the carbon footprint is too great. The fact of the matter is the Keystone has already signed up over 60,000 barrels of North Dakota crude and has the capacity for at least 100,000 barrels.

Today, 71 percent of North Dakota crude is shipped by rail. Now, I have nothing against trains, but railing oil costs more and is not as safe as pipelines. It also requires trucks to get the oil to the train.

According to the director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, Lynn Helms, approval of the Keystone XL will cause two things to happen: 300 to 500 truckloads per day will be taken off North Dakota highways, and there will be one to two fewer trains leaving the State. He calculates that greenhouse gas emissions from rail are 1.8 times and trucks 2.9 times greater than the emissions from pipeline transportation, and spills from truck transportation occur at three to four times the rate of spills from pipelines.

Approval of the Keystone will result in 450,000 to 950,000 kilograms per day less in greenhouse gas emissions in North Dakota alone, as well as significant decreases in dust, and 60 to 80 fewer spills per year.

North Dakota officials also expect highway fatalities will be reduced by three to six per year, and injury crashes by 85 to 150 annually if the Keystone XL is built.

Mr. Speaker, America's national security and America's economic security are tied directly to America's energy security, and the Keystone XL pipeline is a critical weapon in that security.

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