Steven Holt: “This amendment that I am offering on behalf of the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) and the gentleman from…”

“This amendment that I am offering on behalf of the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) simply requires that the oil transported through the Keystone XL pipeline, the refined products made from the oil as well, stay in the United States except under certain circumstances. Now, the proponents of the Keystone pipeline, as we've heard today, say it is important for U.S. energy security. That can't be true if the oil just passes through the United States on its way to other countries, and there is nothing in the underlying legislation that would require that the oil transported through the Keystone pipeline, or the refined fuels produced from that oil, stay in the United States to benefit American consumers. {time} 1720 In fact, when the president of TransCanada, who got a sweetheart deal through this legislation, was asked whether he would commit to keeping the Keystone tar sands oil and the refined fuels in the United States, he said, no. That's why we need to adopt this amendment. U.S. oil consumption peaked in 2005. It's declined by more than 10 percent since then. During the same period, U.S. petroleum production increased 38 percent. So how is this balanced? We're exporting it. Now, that's not necessarily bad. For years, the import of oil hurt our balance of trade. But in 2011, the United States became a net exporter of petroleum products for the first time in half a century.…”