On the recordJanuary 9, 2015
How does this one project, the Keystone XL pipeline, get so much outsized attention? We currently have a sprawling, 185,000-mile network of oil pipelines in the United States and a regulatory process to ensure that they are operating safely. So why are we spending so much time trying to exempt a Canadian company from the environmental reviews that every other company in America has to abide by? And the big question, Mr. Speaker: Who will pay for any future oil spills? Not Keystone. This bill exempts Keystone from contributing the same 8 cents per barrel that every other oil company is required to pay into the oil spill trust fund. Tell me, Mr. Speaker, why is this? If the authors are so certain that this pipeline does not carry any environmental risk, won't they allow the review process to run its course? I stand with my colleagues. I want those jobs, I want them around the country. We can do this, we can do better. I urge a ``no'' vote on this dangerous precedent, Mr. Speaker.
