Lois Capps: “I thank my colleague for yielding. Mr. Speaker, whether it's drilled on land, offshore, or transported via pipeline, oil…”

“I thank my colleague for yielding. Mr. Speaker, whether it's drilled on land, offshore, or transported via pipeline, oil spills are inevitable. Spills happen, and they will continue to happen, regardless of what we've been told by the oil companies building and maintaining the pipelines. TransCanada says it will implement lots of safety measures, but accidents happen. In fact, accidents have already happened 14 times on the existing TransCanada Keystone pipeline. And they will almost certainly happen on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, too. Our amendment simply ensures that those responsible for the spill pay to clean it up. In 1969, my home district was victim to one of the worst oil spills in U.S. history. I know firsthand the devastating damage to human health, property, and natural resources that are caused by oil spills. I know there have been numerous assurances that Keystone XL will be safer and spill risks will be minimal, but safer simply does not equal safe, especially when transporting tar sands crude. Tar sands crude is not only more corrosive and dangerous than conventional crude, but it's far more difficult to clean up in the event of a spill. We need look no further than the tar sands spill in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 2010. Nearly 3 years after that spill, the cleanup is still ongoing and the costs are approaching $1 billion. A spill from Keystone could have similarly devastating impacts in America's heartland.…”