To Approve the Keystone XL Pipeline

Floor Speech

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Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, this is what the American people have been waiting to see. They want Washington to work together to grow our Nation's economy. Sometimes that takes debating what some consider a tough vote.

I personally don't see the authorization before us as a difficult vote, by any stretch of the imagination. To me, this is a no-brainer. Here is why. Keystone is a job creator. This project will bolster the American economy and Arkansas's once we move forward.

In my home State of Arkansas, Nucor Steel in Blytheville and Welspun Tubular in Little Rock are two companies that should be employing people to work on the pipeline for the project right now. These are two communities in my home State that would have already benefited from the project if the President had not been stalling the approval of the Keystone Pipeline.

In fact, Welspun had been producing pipe for the Keystone XL project. Hundreds of miles of pipe, produced for the project, are just sitting at their facility. Unfortunately, due to the administration's delay the company was forced to lay off employees.

The Keystone Pipeline proposal has been studied to death. Every box has been checked. Our friends to the north are moving ahead with or without us. Canada will develop their oil resources whether or not we approve the pipeline. Where the refining is done depends on the President's decision on Keystone. Right now, Canada is currently using other methods of transportation such as railroads to ship their oil.

Without Keystone, they most likely will build their own pipelines to ship their crude oil to Asian markets and refineries in China. They have lax environmental standards.

Instead of working with us to avoid that scenario, the President has unnecessarily prolonged the process, giving Canadian officials more reason to seek opportunities in China.

The Senate majority provided cover for the President's delay tactics for 6 years, simultaneously putting the brakes on thousands of employment opportunities for Americans.

During that time the project has received approval in every study the State Department has conducted. The review process has been exhaustive.

There is no reason for additional delays. The pipeline is ready to go and my colleagues have tried to move it forward. But until now, the Senate majority prevented us from having an up-or-down vote on authorization. Meanwhile, the House voted nine times to approve the Keystone Pipeline. The most recent of these votes came last week.

Now we finally have a chance to send something to the White House that forces the President to make a choice once and for all.

Without congressional activity, the President sees no reason to make a decision. The American people delivered a reason on election day. They want to see Washington work. We can start by passing the Keystone Pipeline. The President claims he heard that message. Let's pass this authorization and give him a chance to approve that.

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