On the recordMay 22, 2013
As chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, let me make it abundantly clear here: the pipeline is going to be built. The question is whether it's going to be built west to Vancouver, and then we're going to see the product shipped to our economic competitors; or will the pipeline be built south to our refineries in the United States. There's a second point. We've got the cleanest burning refineries in the world. That is not true in terms of our economic competitors. So from an environmental standpoint and from the standpoint of energy needs in the U.S., it makes no sense to advance the interests of our economic competitors. Now, the U.S. energy costs have been declining. China's energy costs have been rising. Our country is becoming a more attractive place to manufacture goods. We are also becoming more competitive, both with Europe and with Asia. U.S. gasoline prices right now are 30 percent lower than China's, and U.S. electricity prices are 50 percent lower than Europe's. For those of us that have been involved in manufacturing in the past, we understand how important that is. We want energy prices lower here in the United States than they are overseas, not the other way around. A reliable and efficient energy supply is, frankly, vital to our economic competitiveness; and unless we reverse course, we could squander the advantage we have right now.…
